BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

o 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


ORDER  </ZION 


By  JOHN  ZAHND 


_  ^ 


ORDER  of  ZION 


By  JOHN  ZAHND 


PRICE  $1.00 


ELDER  JOHN  ZAHND 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


3  v 


PREFACE 


In  giving  this  book  to  the  public  I  do  so  with  no  apology 
on  my  part.  I  feel  that  every  individual  has  a  right  to  ex- 
press his  own  opinions  and  convictions  and  also  feel  that  we 
owe  it  to  each  other  to  express  our  opinions  publicly  as  well  as 
in  private  for  the  benefit  and  the  good  that  we  can  do  to 
each  other.  I  feel  that  there  is  a  necessity  for  the  honest 
hearted  to  combine  in  establishing  an  order  of  affairs  in 
such  a  way  that  justice  might  be  done  to  everyone. 

In  the  Order  of  Zion  I  believe  it  is  the  only  possible 
chance  to  bring  about  the  conditions  which  are  longed  and 
sought  for  by  so  many  of  God's  people  and  while  we  see  the 
great  trend  that  is  being  made  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth  for  common  ownership  of  all  things  as  far  as  public 
utilities  are  concerned,  it  is  no  new  idea  upon  my  part,  but 
I  am  only  seeking  to  help  in  the  establishing  of  that  order 
of  things  that  will  make  us  not  only  better  qualified  as  citi- 
zens of  a  nation,  but  that  we  might  come  nearer  to  the  pur- 
pose of  Christ,  our  Lord,  and  prepare  ourselves  to  the  end 
when  we  may  look  for  his  return  to  claim  his  own. 

I  trust  that  all  those  who  may  be  interested,  will  seek 
to  come  together  in  unity  of  purpose,  of  action,  and  in  this  we 
will  establish  the  Order  of  Zion. 

JOHN  ZAHND. 

Residence  Address:  140  N.  Brighton  Ave.,  Kansas  Cit>, 
Missouri. 

Business  Address:  211  Reliance  Bldg.,  Kansas  City,  Mis- 
souri. 


[3] 


NEARER  THE  CELESTIAL  CITY 


1. 

I  am  nearer,  drawing  nearer, 
Soon  I'll  Anchor  on  the  shore, 

Where  the  waves  of  Joy  are  breaking, 
And  the  shadows  come  no  more. 

Chorus. 

Glory,  glory,  glory,  my  heart  is  glad  today ; 
Glory,  glory,  glory,  'tis  sunshine  all  the  way. 

2. 

I  am  nearer,  drav/mg  nearer, 

To  the  pearly  gates  of  light, 
Where  my  journey  will  be  ended, 

And  my  faith  be  lost  in  sight. 

3. 

I  am  nearer,  drawing  nearer, 

To  the  golden  fields  of  rest, 
To  the  arms  of  my  Redeemer, 

And  the  mansions  of  the  blest. 

4. 

I  am  nearer,  drawing  nearer, 

And  the  time  w»ll  not  be  long, 
When  from  numbers  without  number, 

I  shall  hear  the  welcome  song. 


[4] 


THE  ORDER  OF   ZION 


CHAPTER  1 

I  was  born  April  13th,  1877,  near  New  Martinsville,  Wet- 
zel  County,  West  Virginia.  At  my  birth  my  parents  were 
very  poor,  living  on  a  leased  tract  of  land  very  rough  and  not 
very  good  soil.  The  house  I  was  born  in  was  a  small  log 
house  of  one  room  and  a  kitchen  of  rough  boards,  an  old  time 
chimney  built  of  rough  stone.  Part  of  the  roof  was  off  and 
it  rained  and  snowed  into  the  cabin,  so  you  may  see  that  I 
was  born  as  a  very  poor  child  under  the  most  unfavorable 
circumstances. 

My  father  soon  tired  of  these  conditions  and  moved  to 
Covington,  Kentucky,  when  I  was  about  three  years  of  age, 
and  engaged  in  the  dairy  business  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  just 
across  the  river.  We  lived  in  a  little  two-room  frame  house  on 
an  unimproved  street,  my  father  had  small  wages  and  as  the 
liquor  traffic  always  seeks  out  those  it  may  destroy,  it  got 
hold  of  my  father  and  took  most  of  his  earnings,  leaving 
mother  to  manage  as  best  she  could,  mostly  earning  her  liv- 
ing over  the  washtub  with  small  children  to  care  for,  which 
was  no  light  task. 

My  first  remembrance  I  have  to  speak  of  was  at  this 
place,  when  I  would  go  to  the  river  bank  and  watch  the  steam- 
boats, and  the  first  trains  I  ever  saw.  One  thing  I  must  men- 
tion and  that  is  we  had  so  little  to  eat,  in  fact,  bread,  molasses 
and  coffee  made  up  our  diet.  One  day  our  molasses  gave  out 
and  as  we  only  had  bread  to  eat,  I  slipped  the  molasses  jug 
out  and  went  to  the  grocery  store  and  ordered  a  jug  on  credit, 
which  was  given  me  after  I  had  assured  the  grocer  that  1 
was  sent  for  it,  but  when  I  came  home  mother  took  me  and 
the  molasses  back  and  instructed  the  grocer  to  never  let  me 
have  anything  unless  I  had  the  money. 

Here  is  a  lesson  I  never  forgot,  that  is,  always  tell  the 
truth,  never  deceive,  and  be  honest  whatever  the  cost.  But 
poverty  had  led  me  to  this  mostly  caused  by  my  father  being 
overtaken  with  the  drink  habit  in  a  civilized  land  where  we 
boast  of  human  freedom,  where  we  boast  of  Christianity  and 
allow  the  demon  of  rum  to  remain  to  ruin  the  homes  of  thou- 

[51 


THE    ORDER    OF    ZION 


sands  of  honest  hard  working  people,  but  for  lack  of  social 
uplift  and  because  of  wages  not  enough  for  support,  lose  all 
hope  in  self  and  when  hope  is  gone  then  the  destroyer  of 
homes  can  easily  step  in  and  say,  "Come  and  I  will  drown  all 
your  troubles."  I  will  not  blame  my  father.  He  was  honest 
hard  working,  and  had  a  loving  heart  when  at  himself.  But 
I  do  and  always  will  blame  those  people  who  profess  to  be 
Christians  and  then  by  their  vote  cast  a  ballot  for  any  party 
of  men  who  could  overthrow  this  traffic  at  any  session  of 
Congress.  I  believe  the  blood  of  their  neighbors  will  be 
claimed  in  judgment. 

When  I  was  about  5  years  of  age  my  father  being  sick 
most  all  summer  and  because  of  surrounding  conditions,  de- 
cided to  move  back  to  the  country,  so  we  moved  to  Jackson 
County,  West  Virginia,  in  the  fall  of  1882,  just  a  short  ways 
up  the  Ohio  River  from  Havenswood.  When  we  landed 
there  we  had  no  money  and  the  household  effects  were  very 
scant,  we  moved  into  a  small  log  house  of  one  room  and 
small  kitchen  of  rough  boards,  near  the  Ohio  River.  Father 
leased  some  ground  which  he  agreed  to  clear  for  the  right  to 
grow  three  crops.  Having  no  money,  he  would  work  for 
some  one  one  day  each  week  for  fifty  cents,  with  which  he 
would  buy  a  bushel  of  corn  and  mother  would  wash  each 
week  for  a  neighbor  farmer  for  twenty-five  cents,  so  we  lived 
all  winter  on  corn  bread  and  black  coffee  with  very  scant 
clothing  to  wear,  so  you  may  see  that  my  childhood  life  was 
anything  but  encouraging. 

The  following  spring  when  we  could  pick  greens  and 
raise  some  garden  truck  and  get  some  fruit,  it  was  not  so 
bad.  During  the  summer  father  would  give  one  day's  work 
for  the  use  of  a  horse  the  next  day  and  in  this  way  managed 
to  raise  a  few  acres  of  corn  with  a  small  potato  patch  and 
garden.  We  remained  at  this  place  for  two  years,  then  moved 
near  Ford,  West  Virginia,  near  Belleville,  in  Wood  County. 
At  this  place  I  first  attended  school ;  as  I  had  to  cross  Pond 
Creek,  mother  would  set  me  over  in  a  rowboat  each  morning 
and  get  me  each  evening.  Most  of  the  time  I  had  to  walk 

[6] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


over  two  miles  over  very  bad  roads  and  it  was  often  dark 
when  I  would  reach  home,  often  wet  and  muddy. 

We  remained  in  this  neighborhood  until  December,  1889, 
when  we  sold  out  and  with  about  three  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  in  cash  and  a  lot  of  experience  in  poverty  and  many 
distressing  circumstances,  moved  to  Perry  County,  Indiana, 
near  Branchville.  At  this  place  we  rented  a  small  farm  for 
one  year,  and  the  next  year  bought  one  hundred  twenty  acres 
of  poor,  rough,  grownup  land,  for  two  hundred  twenty-five 
dollars.  It  is  needless  to  tell  of  the  many  dark  and  sad  days 
we  endured  trying  to  make  a  start  in  our  new  location. 

At  the  age  of  thirteen  I  was  compelled  to  leave  school  in 
order  to  help  in  life's  struggle.  My  first  work  was  for  an  old 
German  farmer.  I  begun  in  June  and  hoed  corn.  We  would 
eat  breakfast  by  lamplight  and  supper  by  lamplight,  so  we 
could  put  in  full  time  working  from  four  A.  M.  to  eight  and 
nine  P  .M.  or  sixteen  to  seventeen  hours  per  day,  and  for  this 
work  I  received  the  handsome  sum  of  twenty-five  cents  per 
day  and  worked  along,  keeping  up  my  rows  with  men  who 
got  fifty  cents  per  day. 

My  next  work  was  with  an  old  Irishman  I  got  fifty  cents 
per  day;  later  I  hauled  staves  one  whole  winter  with  an  ox 
team  for  twelve  miles  through  mud  and  rain  and  snow  and 
cold,  leaving  about  four  A.  M.  in  the  morning  and  returninig 
many  times  after  dark.  I  hauled  from  near  Branchville  and 
Oriole,  Indiana,  to  (Rono)  or  Magnet  on  the  Ohio  River  over 
about  the  worst  roads  in  the  state. 

About  the  fall  of  1895,  with  my  brother  and  two  other 
young  men,  on  learning  of  the  wonderful  opportunities  in  the 
south  and  how  we  could  soon  amass  a  fortune,  we  started 
to  Little  Rock,  Arkansas.  There  I  hired  to  a  man  to  pick 
cotton  at  40c  per  hundred  pounds  and  when  I  weighed  up  my 
first  day's  picking  I  had  made  the  sum  of  22c.  After  paying 
my  board,  which  was  25c  per  day,  I  was  in  debt  3c.  From 
that  I  hired  to  a  man  to  help  clear  new  ground  lifting  heavy 
logs  and  timbers  all  day  for  fifty  cents  per  day  and  board 
until  I  took  the  chills  and  had  to  leave  for  a  new  location. 

[71 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


One  of  the  young  men  that  went  with  me  died  of  swamp 
fever  in  less  than  a  year. 

My  next  adventure  was  working  in  timber  making  staves 
in  Bradley  County,  Arkansas,  but  as  that  proved  unsuccess- 
ful and  as  sleeping  and  cooking  in  a  small  camp  did  not  prove 
out  good,  I  returned  to  my  Indiana  home,  much  wiser  than 
I  was  when  I  left. 

Let  me  say  here  that  a  system  of  Government  where  the 
poor  must  constantly  be  exploited  and  work  in  poverty  at  a 
starvation  wage  is  wrong,  and  when  we  see  men  that  claim 
to  be  Christians  and  will  lend  their  influence  in  the  lumber 
camps  and  cotton  fields  of  the  south,  or  the  mills  and  fac- 
tories of  the  east,  or  the  mines  and  oil  fields  of  the  west,  as 
well  as  the  land  owners,  it  is  time  for  a  change.  My  opinion 
is  that  the  Christ  Church  cannot  remain  on  earth  when  we 
have  rich  and  poor  in  one  body,  for  one  family  to  live  in  filth 
and  rags  without  enough  to  live  on  and  another  family  driv- 
ing about  in  high  speed  motor  cars  is  no  brotherhood  to  me. 

Again,  being  located  in  Perry  County,  Indiana,  near  St. 
Croix,  and  realizing  that  there  was  no  place  where  the  poor 
could  expect  anything  only  to  be  exploited,  I  again  went  to 
work  cutting  hoop-poles,  making  fence  rails,  piling,  plowing 
and  hoeing  corn,  sowing  and  raising  wheat,  this  was  from 
1896  to  the  year  1900.  We  sold  potatoes  at  twenty-five  cents 
a  bushel,  corn  at  twenty  cents  a  bushel,  wheat  at  forty-eight 
cents  a  bushel,  apples  at  one  dollar  per  barrel  and  paid  twenty- 
five  cents  per  barrel  to  put  them  in.  After  hauling  this  product 
ten  and  twenty  miles  to  market  over  rough,  rocky,  muddy 
roads  and  paying  high  price  for  fertilizer  to  raise  it  I  found  we 
were  always  in  debt,  even  though  I  would  go  to  work  at  four 
in  the  morning  and  work  as  late  as  I  could  see,  then  I  did  not 
have  suitable  clothes  to  wear  at  that. 

My  first  business  adventure  took  place  about  the  year 
1899,  when  I  bought  four  old,  worn-out  oxen  that  had  been 
used  several  years  in  hauling  around  an  old  time  threshing 
machine.  I  paid  one  hundred  and  thirty  dollars  for  them,  get- 
ting them  on  credit,  and  sold  them  for  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars  after  feeding  them  for  about  three  months 

18] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


nearly  enough  feed  to  pay  for  them.  Yet,  as  feed  did  not  sell 
at  any  price,  it  was  the  best  I  could  do ;  in  this  I  was  assisted 
by  my  brother.  At  that  time  father  had  died  and  with  my 
brother,  we  had  mother  and  four  sisters  to  care  for.  In  the 
year  of  1900  I  took  up  the  agency  to  sell  harvesting  machinery 
locally  for  the  Piano  Harvest  Company,  during  the  spring. 
That  fall  I  sold  fertilizer  for  the  Louisville  Fertilizer  Com- 
pany. 

The  year  1901  brought  about  quite  a  change  in  my  life,  as 
this  was  the  year  I  left  the  farm.  My  brother  and  I  cut  twenty- 
eight  acres  of  wheat  with  one  cradle  and  I  bound  it  all  by 
hand.  We  worked  in  that  harvest  from  four  A.  M.  to  9  P.  M. 
each  day. 

A  few  nice  hogs  took  sick  and  died  and  two  nice  horses 
died,  so  being  discouraged,  we  quit  farming. 

Locating  at  English,  Indiana,  in  October,  1901,  I  was 
employed  as  a  traveling  salesman  for  the  Piano  Harvester 
Company  of  Piano,  Illinois,  and  worked  for  them  the  spring 
of  1904. 

My  mother  died  February  18th,  1902,  after  falling  on  the 
ice  and  a  brief  sickness  of  only  two  weeks.  Here  I  lost  the 
best  friend  I  ever  had,  one  that  stood  by  me  from  an  infant 
and  was  always  ready  to  speak  words  of  comfort  and  cheer 
when  no  one  else  in  all  the  world  realized  my  heart's  desire, 
and  when  dark  clouds  would  cover  my  mind  I  always  had 
my  mother's  prayers  and  those  kind  and  soothing  words  that 
can  only  come  from  a  mother's  love. 


[91 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


CHAPTER  2 

| HIS  same  year,  1902,  I  began  to  take  active  notice  of 
political  matters  and  seeing  the  corrupt  conditions 
and  living  in  a  town  of  six  open  saloons  in  a  town  of 
six  hundred  people,  I  began  my  first  reform  fight  and  the  fol- 
lowing article  appeared  in  the  Patriot  Phalanx  of  Indianapolis, 
Ind.,  July  26,  1903 : 

BRAVE  FIGHTING  AGAINST  ODDS 

English,  July  26. — Life  and  enthusiasm  existed  in  the  first 
Prohibition  meeting  held  here  this  season.  Last  fall  a  re- 
monstrance was  used  against  two  applicants  who  had  applied 
for  licenses.  A  majority  of  ninety-six  was  gotten  against  them, 
but  they  have  continued  to  run  their  saloons  as  if  there  were 
no  law  in  existence.  The  town  marshal  has  made  no  effort 
to  stop  this.  The  prosecuting  attorney,  who  lives  in  our  midst, 
turns  a  deaf  ear  to  it  all.  The  sheriff  is  still  worse.  Now, 
there  are  four  applications  for  licenses  and  they  are  working 
night  and  day  to  beat  the  remonstrators.  The  attorneys,  ex- 
cept one,  are  all  fighting  hard  for  the  saloon.  Only  one 
merchant  in  town  is  against  them.  The  saloon  element  have 
them  bluffed.  At  last  night's  meeting,  John  Zahnd,  county 
chairman  for  the  Prohibition  Party,  gave  a  grand  lecture  for 
the  cause.  The  large  crowd  present  were  astonished  at  the 
wonderful  truths  he  poured  down  upon  them.  It  made 
them  realize  what  they  have  come  to,  and  of  the  great  danger 
in  further  delay.  An  alliance  was  organized  with  eighteen 
members.  Several  young  men  have  promised  to  give  their 
support,  as  well  as  vote  the  Prohibition  Party,  through  the 
results  of  this  meeting.  Shame  on  the  fathers  who  stayed 
away.  English  has  only  600  people  in  it,  yet  there  are  five 
open  saloons  paying  no  town  or  county  license,  running  in 
defiance  of  law,  and  no  officer,  despite  his  solemn  oath,  car- 
ing or  daring  to  interfere. 

A  CITIZEN. 
[10] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


I  also  quote  an  article  that  appeared  in  the  English  News 
of  June  10,  1904,  at  English,  Indiana,  as  follows : 

"John  Zahnd  was  born  Aprirl  13,  1877,  in  New  Martins- 
ville,  W.  Va.  He  lived  there  until  thirteen  years  of  age  and 
moved  to  Branchville,  Perry  County,  Ind.  He  worked  on  his 
father's  farm  a  number  of  years,  and  after  the  death  of  his 
father  took  care  of  his  mother  and  younger  sisters. 

"In  1901  he  moved  to  English  and  has  been  traveling  a 
number  of  years,  being  five  years  with  the  Piano  Harvester 
Co.  Several  months  ago  Mr.  Zahnd  moved  to  Grantsburg, 
and  is  now  traveling  for  the  Mayer  Fertilizer  Co.,  of  St. 
Louis. 

"Mr.  Zahnd  is  now  County  Chairman  of  the  Prohibition 
Party,  and  is  also  candidate  for  trustee  of  Union  Township 
on  the  Prohibition  Ticket.  In  local  politics  he  says  he  has 
always  voted  for  those  whom  he  thought  were  best  men,  but 
nationally  he  has  voted  the  Prohibition  Ticket. 

"As  a  citizen  he  is  public  spirited,  liberal  and  a  progres- 
sive gentleman  of  kindly  and  courteous  demeanor,  and  is  noted 
for  having  a  big  warm  heart  which  has  made  him  friends 
everywhere. 

"He  is  a  member  of  church  and  also  a  member  of  the 
Masonic  Lodge,  and  is  an  energetic,  determined  citizen." 

This  will  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  my  standing,  especi- 
ally when  the  latter  paper  was  owned  and  controlled  by  a  man 
that  was  a  strong  Republican  and  a  man  that  took  life  in  a  way 
not  to  care  for  the  reform  side,  yet  honest,  I  think,  at  heart. 

In  order  to  set  forth  my  political  ideas  more  plainly,  I 
quote  proceedings  of  a  county  convention  the  same  year  which 
appeared  in  the  English  News  of  English,  Indiana. 

"The  Prohibitionists  of  Crawford  County  assembled  in 
convention  Saturday,  March  26,  1904,  and  called  to  order  by 
County  Chairman  John  Zahnd. 

"After  song  and  prayer  the  convention  was  addressed  by 
the  chairman  on  the  subject  of  "Prohibition  Principles,"  after 
which  the  following  resolutions  were  adopted : 

[11] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


"Resolutions  passed  and  adopted  by  the  Prohibitionists 
of  Crawford  County,  Ind.,  at  their  convention  held  at  Grants- 
burg,  Ind.,  March  26,  1904. 

"We  endorse  and  reaffirm  the  stand  taken  in  our  last 
State  and  National  Platforms,  hence  be  it  resolved: 

1st.  That  socially,  morally  and  financially,  the  liquor 
problem  is  and  has  been  the  greatest  and  most  pressinig  issue 
before  and  facing  our  people.  It  is  to  a  very  large  per  cent, 
the  producer  of  other  kindred  evils,  such  as  gambling  and 
prostitution. 

2nd.  That  the  traffic  in  alcoholic  liquors  is  a  deadly  foe 
to  the  home,  to  the  school  ,to  the  church,  and  to  the  nation — 
filling  our  asylums  with  insane,  also  almshouses,  jails  and 
penitentiaries ;  thus  increasing  the  burden  of  taxation  that  the 
sober,  industrious  and  law-abiding  citizen  must  bear. 

3rd.  That  we  are  opposed  to  the  manufacture,  importa- 
tion, sale  or  use  of  any  and  all  kinds  of  intoxicating  liquors  as 
a  beverage;  also  for  the  government  to  license  and  protect 
men  while  thus  engaged — knowing  that  he  who  partakes  of 
the  same  will  craze  his  mind,  dethrone  his  reason,  blacken  his 
soul,  pauperize  his  family,  and,  in  fact,  help  to  fill  the  earth 
with  violence  and  woe. 

4th.  That  the  only  right  and  practical  way  to  deal  with 
this  and  other  kindred  evils  is  to  utterly  destroy  it  by  State 
and  National  Legislation,  clearing  up  our  statute  books  of 
every  law  permitting  and  protecting  such  evils ;  thus  mak- 
ing it  criminal  to  make,  import  or  dispose  of  such  articles 
as  will  be  and  have  been  detrimental  to  the  welfare  of  our 
homes  and  country;  or  to  practice  or  be  guilty  of  any  act 
or  acts  that  will  lower  or  decrease  the  moral  standing  of 
our  people  and  nation. 

5th.  That  we  are  also  opposed  to  the  present  loose  and 
lax  administration  of  the  laws  of  our  land,  by  municipal, 
county,  state  and  national  officers  of  both  the  Democratic 
and  Republican  parties;  hence  we  recommend  and  ask  that 
the  aforesaid  parties  do,  while  such  remain  as  their  laws, 
enforce  the  same  by  properly  punishing  the  violators  as  there- 
in set  forth  without  partiality.  If  the  law  is  wrong  amend 
it,  but  while  on  the  statute  books  enforce  it. 

f!2] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


6th.-  That  it  is  distinctly  understood  that  our  fight  is  not 
against  the  saloon-keeper — for  he  is  only  tthe  agent  of  the 
party  in  power,  with  the  authority  of  said  party  to  transact 
such  business  in  which  he  is  engaged,  and  by  right  and  justice 
should  be  protected  by  the  same.  But  the  facts  are  that  the 
efforts  to  restrict  or  regulate  this  evil  have  been  an  utter 
failure,  hence  by  the  Word  of  God,  and  the  conscience  of 
men,  we  are  determined  in  principle  and  do  hereby  seek,  ask, 
pray  and  work  for  a  prohibitory  law  in  regard  to  all  these 
matters  of  evil  tendency. 

Hence,  we  further  resolve,  that  a  copy  of  these  resolu- 
tions be  sent  to  the  State  and  National  Conventions,  and 
also  that  a  copy  shall  be  sent  to  each  and  every  editor  in 
the  state  that  publishes  a  Prohibition  paper  ,and  every  editor 
in  Crawford  County,  regardless  of  what  paper  he  may  pub- 
lish." 

JOHN  ZAHND,  County  Chairman. 
G.  E.  FLANIGAN,  Secretary. 

For  the  reader  to  better  understand  my  position  then  on 
the  religious  and  political  questions,  I  quote  in  full  an  article 
written  by  my  hand  and  appeared  in  Zion's  Ensign  in  the 
spring  of  1904,  a  religious  paper  published  at  Independence, 
Missouri 

"SILENCE." 

"Silence  is  said  to  be  golden.  So  it  is  sometimes,  and 
sometimes  it  isn't.  Silence  is  sometimes  cowardice;  some- 
times silence  is  treason,  sometimes  silence  is  loyalty.  When 
Christ  was  before  Pilate  he  answered  not  a  word ;  that  was 
a  golden  silence,  that  was  loyalty,  that  was  the  splendid  re- 
serve of  conscious  rectitude.  The  silence  of  scripture  is  gol- 
den, quite  as  golden  as  its  speech.  To  know  when  and  how  to 
be  silent  is  quite  as  much  a  part  of  wisdom  as  to  know  when 
and  how  to  speak.  There  are  times  when  speech  is  golden, 
and  other  times  when  the  same  speech  is  brass.  There  are 
times  when  silence  is  that  discretion  which  is  the  better  part 
of  valor.  There  are  other  times  when  silence  is  the  indis- 

[13] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


cretion  of  a  base  betrayal.  This  present  time  is  such  a  true 
as  that.  The  political  silence  at  this  time  is  so  thick  you  can 
cut  it.  The  politician  of  the  present  time  is  a  "dumb  dog." 
He  cannot  bark,  much  less  will  he  bite.  In  addition  to  being 
dumb  he  is  deaf.  He  will  not  hear.  "Charm  you  never  so 
wisely."  There  is  a  reason  for  all  things.  We  shall  see  a 
reason  for  the  present  political  silence  as  we  go  along. 

"Did  you  ever  pursue  an  old  political  party  platform? 
You  noted  that  it  was  eloquent  in  speech.  It  was  grandelo- 
quent  about  protection  or  free  trade,  gold  or  free  silver,  status 
quo  or  expansion  and  many  other  things  good,  bad  or  indiffer- 
ent. But  did  you  note  the  eloquence  of  its  silence?  Things  it 
does  not  say  are  far  more  eloquent  than  that  which  it  speaks. 
What  it  says  might  not  be  left  unsaid,  but  what  it  says  not, 
it  ought  to  say.  Such  silence  is  not  normal,  it  is  forced  and 
unnatural,  for  if  there  is  anything  your  politician  is  looking 
for,  it  is  something  to  talk  about.  Silence  to  them  is  painful. 
For  a  politician  to  be  condemned  to  silence  is  to  be  condemned 
to  death,  as  it  were.  The  old  parties  are  silent  about  the  great 
and  eloquent  about  the  small.  What  they  speak  of  is  com- 
paratively great,  but  in  comparison  to  that  about  which  they 
are  silent  it  is  relatively  small. 

"It  is  the  drink  that  they  are  silent  about.  Such  silence  is 
ignoble,  cowardly  ,traitorous.  The  saloon  sweeps  through  the 
land  like  a  prairie  fire,  devouring  crops,  fences,  barns,  houses, 
livestock,  men,  women  and  children  in  its  devastating  path. 
Republicans  and  democrats  silent,  not  a  word  of  warning 
nor  a  hand  to  stop  the  flames.  The  living  rooms  and  sleeping 
rooms  of  the  house  of  civilization  are  afire  and  the  Republi- 
cans and  Democrats  are  too  busy  in  the  kitchen  with  'what 
shall  we  eat  and  what  shall  we  drink  and  wherewithal  shall 
we  be  clothed/  that  they  will  not  even  raise  an  alarm  of  fire 
so  that  the  flames  may  be  extinguished,  much  less  will  they 
lift  a  hand  to  rescue  the  occupants  of  the  house  from  the 
peril  of  the  flames.  Silence,  the  criminal  saloon,  has  city 
government  by  the  throat.  Silence,  north,  south,  east  and 
west  are  overrun  by  the  surging  mob  bent  on  murder,  mad- 
dened by  drink.  Silence,  the  White  House  has  been  emptied 

[14] 


' 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


three  times  by  drunken  anarchists.  Silence,  the  electorate,  has 
been  boozed  and  boodled  and  bamboozled  until  the  ballot 
boxes  are  annually  stuffed  with  the  purchased  cattle  of  the 
slums  that  are  vomited  out  of  the  saloons. 

"Silence,  the  anarchist  of  drink,  has  his  gun  drawn  on  the 
Sabbath  Day  and  is  just  about  to  pull  the  trigger.  Silence, 
the  poisonous  serpent  of  the  still  has  coiled  its  slimy  length 
about  church,  school,  factory,  mart,  home,  White  House  and 
Capitol  and  is  preparing  to  squeeze  out  the  life  of  each.  Why 
are  these  things  so?  Business.  Money  counts  in  politics  and 
business,  but  men  are  cheap  as  dirt. 

"If  a  few  men  went  about  scattering  disease  and  infected 
a  few  million  hogs,  and  a  few  hundred  thousand  of  them  died 
annually,  there  would  be  a  great  howl  and  cry  for  a  com- 
mission to  investigate,  and  no  money  would  be  spared  to 
eradicate  the  disease  and  punish  the  men  who  scattered  it 
about.  But  men!  Well,  you  can  very  easily  draw  your  own 
moral.  Now  this  thing  of  looking  after  business  in  politics 
is  all  right,  but  it  has  gone  entirely  too  far ;  it  is  overreaching 
itself,  and  is  in  very  grave  danger  of  bringing  down  the  fabric 
of  business  in  wreck  and  ruin,  because  of  the  injustice,  the 
blood,  the  oppression  that  it  is  slighting  in  the  drink.  It  would 
be  well  for  the  business  interests  to  ponder  the  Scripture, 
which  says :  'There  is  that  scattereth  and  yet  increaseth ;  and 
there  is  that  withholdeth  more  than  is  meet;  but  it  tendeth 
to  poverty.' 

"Justice  is  the  true  and  lasting  basis  for  business.  This 
thing  of  slighting  the  drink  evil  for  the  sake  of  business  must 
have  its  end,  and  its  end  may  be  blood,  blood,  blood,  if  it  be 
slighted  much  longer.  Non-partisanism  is  simply  the  study 
night  and  day  of  certain  men  to  find  some  method  of  de- 
stroying the  drink  traffic  without  disturbing  politics  on  the 
one  hand,  and  business  on  the  other,  and  incidentally  without 
disturbing  the  financial  interests  of  religion.  But  the  effort 
will  be  vain.  Now  on  the  other  hand  the  very  same  men  who 
are  controlling  politics  in  the  interests  of  business  are  in  large 
measure  controlling  religion  also.  They  control  religion  in 
the  interest  of  business,  their  method  is  indirect.  They  work 
through  politics.  The  church  meets  in  conference  convention 

[15] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


and  assembly,  and  pass  certain  resolutions  that  sound  well. 
The  logic  of  them  is  correct.  They  lead  to  clean  hands, 
through  clean  votes  for  a  clean  party,  with  a  platform  washed 
clean  of  all  complicity  with  the  unclean  licensed  saloon. 

"But  then  what  happens?  Why,  all  down  the  Christian 
line  the  word  is  passed,  through  pulpit  and  through  pew,  that 
the  old  political  alignments  must  not  be  forsaken  for  the 
sake  of  business.  Business  must  not  be  disturbed,  and  those 
warnings  and  threats — if  so  they  be — are  enforced  by  the 
crack  of  the  financial  whip.  Contributions  to  local  salaries 
and  church  expenses,  and  to  mission  and  other  boards  are  at 
stake.  Certain  investments  of  legacies  are  in  danger  of  being 
jeopardized.  Oh !  it  is  the  very  hara-kira  of  hell,  the  fiend's 
archmuck  that  the  financial  life  of  the  church  should  be  made 
to  depend  upon  her  willingness  or  dip  her  hands  in  the  blood 
of  the  slain  of  drink,  by  continuing  against  all  her  better  in- 
stincts, and  against  all  her  teachings  and  all  her  resolves  to 
vote  for  license  by  her  enforced  support  of  license  parties. 
What  kind  of  hands  are  those  that  are  stained  with  the  blood 
of  licensed  drink,  to  take  to  the  table  in  remembrance  of  Him 
who  shed  his  blood  that  we  might  live.  Religion  should  go 
into  politics,  but  politics  should  not  be  taken  into  religion, 
neither  should  religion  be  used  as  an  occasion  for  business. 
Albeit  religion  owes  herself  to  both  business  and  politics 
to  their  moral  uplift. 

"But  pray  tell  us  how  can  religion  benefit  either  business 
or  politics  if  she  lend  herself  to  a  policy  which  tends  to  their 
degradation?  The  license  system  has  utterly  debauched  poli- 
tics and  has  degraded  the  moral  life  of  business,  mainly 
through  politics.  Even  so  also  through  politics  the  license 
system  has  degraded  the  moral  and  spiritual  life  of  the  church 
and  religion.  O,  Zion,  lovely  Zion,  beautiful  Zion,  City  of 
our  God!  shall  the  throne  of  iniquity  have  fellowship  with 
thee,  that  frameth  mischief  by  a  law?" 

JOHN  ZAHND. 

The  following  article  appeared  in  the  Saints'  Herald  of 
Lamoni,  Iowa,  December  11  ,1907. 

T16] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


THE  BIBLE  AND  INTOXICANTS 

No  other  book  ever  written  is  so  strongly  for  temperance 
as  the  Bible.  Almost  its  only  mention  of  wine  is  to  condemn 
it,  and  warn  against  it.  Throughout  the  entire  Bible  "Wine 
is  a  mocker."  The  great  volume  is  filled  with  accounts  of 
men  who  have  "erred  through  wine,  and  through  strong  drink 
are  gone  astray.  They  are  swallowed  up  of  wine."  We  are  bid- 
den not  even  to  look  upon  the  wine,  and  we  are  supplied  with 
an  abundance  of  reasons  why  we  should  not.  And  all  that  with 
the  light  wines  of  the  east,  and  with  their  blessed  ignorance 
of  the  modern  saloon!  What  if  the  Bible  writers  lived  in 
the  days  of  rum  and  whisky  and  brandy  and  gin !  What  if 
they  lived  in  the  days  of  free  lunches  and  treating,  and  the 
dance  hall,  and  the  theatre,  and  the  thousand  and  one  other 
temptations  to  intoxication  that  our  modern  igenuity  has 
devised!  No  words  would  be  hot  enough  to  express  their 
indignation,  or  sad  enough  to  set  forth  their  warnings. 

No  temperance  lecturer  need  go  beyond  the  Bible  for 
striking  instances  of  the  ruin  wrought  by  strong  drink. 
Very  early  in  the  book  in  the  case  of  Noah,  the  first  drunkard, 
•the  sacred  writings  show  the  shamefulness  of  intoxication, 
and  the  horror  of  it.  Nabal  is  pictured  as  a  besotted  drunk- 
ard under  the  condemnation  of  Jehovah.  Elah,  when  he  was 
assassinated  was  "drinking  himself  drunk"  in  the  house  of 
his  steward.  Benhadad,  when  he  was  defeated,  was  "drinking 
himself  drunk"  in  the  pavilions,  he  and  the  thirty  and  two 
kings."  The  heart  of  King  Ahasuerus  "was  merry  with  wine" 
when  he  laid  his  shameful  command  upon  the  plucky  Vashi. 
Belshazzer,  the  King,  was  at  his  cups  when  the  mysterious 
hand  came  out  of  the  darkness  and  wrote  his  ruin  upon  the 
wall.  Herod  was  feasting  when  his  lustful  fancy  was  taken 
with  the  vile  dance  of  the  daughter  of  Herodias,  and  he  gave 
her  the  life  of  that  hero,  John,  the  Baptist.  And  so  one  might 
go  on  recounting  tragedy  after  tragedy  associated  in  the 
Bible  with  the  wine  cup.  The  Bible,  in  short,  has  but  one 
synonym  for  wine,  and  that  is  woe.  "Who  hath  woe?  They 
that  tarry  long  at  the  wine."  "Woe  to  the  crown  of  pride 

[17] 


THE    ORDER    OF    ZION 


of  the  drunkards  of  Ephraim  that  are  overcome  with  wine!'' 
To  be  sure,  there  is  the  famous  prescription  for  Timothy's 
weak  stomach,  but  it  is  only  fair  to  set  off  against  that  Paul's 
many  exhortations  to  temperance,  and  especially  his  vigorous 
assertions  that  if  the  eating  of  meat  offered  to  idols  was  a 
stumbling-block  to  any,  he  would  eat  no  meat  while  the 
world  remained.  How  much  more  emphatically  would  he 
say  that  nowadays  of  wine!  And  then  there  is  the  Cana 
miracle.  But  no  one  has  a  right  to  say  that  the  wine  Christ 
made  was  intoxicating,  and  certainly  no  one  can  imagine  that 
our  Lord,  if  He  were  living  today,  would  not  be  opposed  to 
the  accursed  saloon  and  all  its  works.  It  is  impossible  to  fol- 
low his  teaching  and  be  a  drunkard. 

Prohibition  laws,  reform  waves,  temperance  crusades,  and 
anti-smoking  and  chewing  clubs  did  not  make  the  people  of 
this  country  any  more  abstemious  in  the  fiscal  year  closed 
June  30th,  than  in  others  years.  On  the  contrary,  there  were 
millions  of  gallons  more  whiskey  and  beer  consumed,  more 
than  half  a  billion,  or  more,  cigars  used,  nearly  a  billion  and  a 
third  more  cigarettes,  and  thousands  of  pounds  more  of  snuff 
consumed  than  in  the  previous  fiscal  year.  Worse  than  all 
else,  there  were  used  many  millions  of  pounds  more  of  oleo- 
margarine, cheese,  adulterated  butter,  and  such.  All  this  is 
shown  by  the  statement  of  the  Internal  Revenue  Bureau  as 
to  the  receipts  of  that  bureau  for  the  fiscal  year  that  closed 
June  30.  The  total  receipts  from  all  sources  for  that  year 
were  $269,664,022.85  as  compared  with  $249,102,738.00  for  ths 
fiscal  year  ended  June  30th,  1906.  From  the  different  sources 
the  receipts  were  as  follows:  Spirits  $156,336,901.89,  com- 
pared with  $143,394,055.12  for  the  previous  year;  tobacco, 
$51,811,069.69,  against  $48,422,997.38;  fermented  liquors,  $59,- 
567,818.18,  compared  with  $55,641,858.56;  oleomargarine,  $887,- 
641.31,  compared  with  $570,037.93;  adulterated  butter,  $12,- 
743.60,  last  year  $9,258.43;  renovated  butter,  $161,795.79,  last 
year  $138,078.09;  miscellaneous,  $886,052.39,  last  year  $926,- 
452.49. 

But  in  dollars  and  cents  the  failure  of  the  people  to  be 
impressed  by  sumptuary  laws  and  moral  regulations  is  not 
shown  half  as  well  as  in  gallons,  pounds  and  numbers.  Take 

[18] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


cigar  and  tobacco  for  example.  In  the  last  fiscal  year  there 
were  withdrawn  for  consumption,  cigars  to  the  number  of 
8,642,278,219,  an  increase  in  a  year  of  57,543,375.  The  refine- 
ment of  city  life,  the  lectures  as  to  the  indecency  of  chewing 
and  pipe  smoking  have  all  been  lost  sight  of  on  an  independent 
citizenship.  In  the  last  fiscal  year  the  people  of  this  country 
chewed  and  smoked  369,186,303  pounds  of  tobacco  as  against 
354,415,499  pounds  the  previous  year,  an  increase  of  14,270,801- 
pounds.  Cigarette  smoking  showed  a  tremendous  increase, 
number  used  jumping  from  3,783,000,000  to  5,511,862,130,  and 
these  were  only  the  manufactured  kind.  In  the  snuff  line 
693,658  pounds  more  than  in  the  last  fiscal  year  were  used, 
the  figures  being  23,401,196  pounds  in  the  year  just  closed, 
and  22,707,538  for  the  previous  year.  Oleomargarine,  despite 
all  the  oppressive  laws  passed  against  it  in  recent  years, 
showed  and  increased  consumption  of  15,843,194  pounds. 
Renovated  butter,  adulterated  butter,  ah  had  an  increased 
market  over  last  year.  As  to  alcoholic  drinks,  the  Saints  of 
God  will  be  shocked.  In  corn,  rye,  and  similar  whiskies,  the 
consumption  was  11,409,252  gallons  above  the  previous  fiscal 
year.  The  consumption  in  the  fiscal  year  1907  was  134,142,074 
gallons,  against  122,732,822  gallons  in  the  year  before.  In 
spirits  made  from  apples,  peaches,  grapes  and  pears,  there 
was  a  smaller  increase  as  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  con- 
sumption was  1,993,668  gallons  against  1,781,643  gallons  last 
year.  In  the  consumption  of  beer,  which  has  gradually  be- 
come the  national  drink,  the  increase  was  3,894,474  barrels 
over  the  former  fiscal  year.  Each  barrel  represents  31  gal- 
lans,  which  makes  the  total  increase  116,833.220  gallons  of 
this  beverage.  The  figures  for  the  respective  years  1907  and 
1906  were  58,546,111  and  54,651,637  barrels.  Internal  revenue 
officials  say  the  increase  would  have  been  much  greater,  but 
for  an  exceedingly  cool  and  wet  spring  which  reduced  the 
consumption  during  that  period,  and  yet  the  great  divines  say 
we  are  fast  becoming  a  great  Christian  nation;  also  a  sober 
nation.  It  might  be  well  to  think,  when  we  say  that  we 
have  no  time  for  temperance  talk.  The  Saints  are  in  danger 
as  well  as  others. 

New  Albany,  Indiana.  JOHN  ZAHND. 

[19] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


CHAPTER  3 

The  following  article  was  taken  from  the  Patriot  Phalanx 
of  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  1908: 

Milan,  Feb.  14. — Last  night  our  people  had  the  pleasure 
of  listening  to  a  very  able  address  by  John  Zahnd,  of  New 
Albany.  The  meeting  was  held  in  the  M.  E.  Church.  The 
weather  was  bad,  but  there  was  a  large  and  appreciative 
audience.  Mr.  Zahnd's  address  was  well  chosen,  his  argu- 
ments convincing  and  to  the  point.  When  he  had  finished 
quite  a  number  stood  up  and  stated  that  hereafter  they 
would  cast  their  votes  where  they  would  do  the  most  good 
for  prohibition.  This  was  our  second  public  temperance 
meeting. 

On  Jan.  28th,  a  mass  meeting  was  held  in  the  Milan 
Baptist  Church,  James  H.  Connelly  presiding.  The  citizens 
discussed  the  liquor  question  pro  and  con.  At  the  close  of 
this  meeting  147  people  came  forward  and  signed  a  pledge 
to  "Use  all  honorable  means  to  put  the  saloons  out  of  busi- 
ness." 

The  good  work  is  spreading. 

EDWIN  N.  SHOCKLEY. 

The  following  article  appeared  in  the  Patriot  Phalanx 
of  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  May,  1908: 

ADOPTING  THE  PLATFORM 

With  the  raising  of  funds  disposed  of,  the  report  of  the 
resolutions  committee  was  called  for.  An  air  of  expectancy 
prevailed  as  B.  F.  Watson  came  to  the  platform  to  read  the 
declaration  of  principles  upon  which  the  party  is  to  stand 
during  this  campaign. 

The  various  planks  were  read  in  order  and  several  of 
them  applauded,  notably  the  one  on  the  suffrage  question. 
The  reading  of  the  final  plank  brought  a  shout  of  approval 
from  the  delegates.  A  motion  was  made  by  C.  E.  Newlin 
to  adopt  the  platform  as  read.  This  precipitated  a  sharp 
debate,  the  motion  being  opposed  by  those  who  wanted  to 
consider  it  plank  by  plank.  The  noon  hour  had  arrived  and 

120] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


a  motion  prevailed  to  postpone  further  consideration  until 
after  dinner. 

It  is  not  the  Prohibition  party  way  to  do  like  the  old 
party  conventions  and  accept  a  cut  and  dried  platform,  with 
all  debate  choked  off  by  the  chairman.  On  Wednesday  af- 
ternoon more  than  an  hour  was  taken  up  in  a  careful 
scrutiny  of  every  plank  in  the  platform.  Several  changes 
were  made.  Additional  planks  offered  on  the  tariff  and 
other  questions  were  voted  down.  Planks  number  19  and  20 
were  added.  The  former  was  the  result  of  an  eloquent  talk 
against  polygamy  made  by  John  Zahnd,  of  New  Albany. 

"19.  We  demand  the  enactment  of  national  legislation 
which  will  forever  destroy  the  crime  of  polygamy  in 
America." 

The  following  article  was  taken  from  the  Saint's  Herald 
of  Lamoni,  Iowa,  of  May  27,  1908: 

NOTICE  OF  APPOINTMENT   OF   BISHOP'S   AGENT 
IN  AND  FOR  SOUTHERN  INDIANA  DISTRICT 

The  Saints  and  friends  of  Southern  Indiana  District, 
please  take  notice  that  upon  the  removal  of  former  agent, 
Bro.  J.  J.  Boswell  from  the  district,  that  the  Bishopric  of 
the  Reorganized  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day 
Saints  has  duly  appointed  Elder  John  Zahnd,  of  New 
Albany,  Indiana,  as  Bishop's  agent  in  and  for  the  said  dis- 
trict to  act  in  behalf  of  the  Bishopric  of  said  church  in  and 
for  said  district. 

The  Bishopric  extends  to  Bro.  Boswell  especial  thanks 
for  his  faithful  and  earnest  work  in  the  office  of  agent  the 
past  few  years,  and  trusts  the  Lord  will  bless  and  direct 
him  in  his  labors  in  his  new  home. 

Also  earnestly  solicit  a  united  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
Saints  and  friends  of  the  Southern  Indiana  District  in  behalf 
of  the  work  of  our  blessed  Lord  and  the  promulgation  of 
His  truth,  and  that  each  may  feel  the  necessity  of  per- 
forming his  or  her  part  therein  and  making  due  effort  to 
assist  the  agent  and  thereby  the  church  in  its  work. 

In  behalf  of  the   Bishopric,  very  respectfully. 

E.  L.  KELLY, 
Independence,  Mo.,  May  14,  1908.  Presiding  Bishop. 

[21] 


THE    ORDER    OF    ZION 


The  following  article  appeared  in  the  Saint's  Herald  of 
Lamoni,  Iowa,  June  3,  1908: 

HEART,  HEAD  AND  HAND  PHILOSOPHY 

Our  car  of  spiritual  progress  is  again  gathering  speed. 
The  spiritual  and  progressive  endurance — run  will  have  to 
be  slowed  down  a  bit  on  account  of  a  slight  flurry  of  fear 
among  the  contestants.  Some  of  them  were  so  badly  fright- 
ened that  they  got  off  and  walked.  Most  of  them  have 
climbed  aboard  again,  and  now  we  are  getting  into  a  fine 
pace.  Our  car  was  all  right.  The  motive  power  of  our 
progressive  road  looked  smooth  and  all  right.  Everything 
looked  like  a  great,  record-breaking  run.  Then,  I  guess  we 
got  over-speeding  a  little  and  scared  a  few  of  those  on 
board. 

It  is  a  good  thing  to  slow  down  a  trifle,  at  times,  exam- 
ine the  bearings  and  other  machinery,  make  quite  sure  of 
the  steering-gear,  look  to  our  engines,  get  a  good  map  of 
the  road,  and  let  some  of  the  chauffeurs  affected  with  speed- 
madness  get  off  and  walk  awhile.  We  have  more  confidence 
in  the  good  car,  and  her  certainty  to  reach  her  destination 
than  ever  before.  And  now  while  we  are  getting  undei 
spiritual  progress  again,  and  before  the  speed  gets  too  great, 
le  us  take  time  to  think  which  way  to  turn.  Let's  study  the 
map  of  the  course  a  little. 

We  notice,  first  of  all,  the  road  is  full  of  forks.  We 
are  called  upon  at  every  stage  of  the  journey  to  decide 
whether  we  shall  turn  to  the  right  or  left.  And  at  many 
of  the  forks  there  are  more  than  two  choices  open.  It  will 
require  much  knowledge,  much  keen  analysis,  much  close 
reasoning,  much  accurate  observation,  much  calmness,  much 
decision  to  keep  on  the  main  highway  to  our  destination, 
the  land  of  Zion,  the  heaven  of  rest. 

And  the  combination  of  qualities  that  enables  us  to 
keep  on  the  right  track  is  called  judgment. 

Never  before  in  history  has  there  been  such  a  heavy 
and  continuous  demand  for  new  ideas.  The  advertiser,  the 
editor,  the  manufacturer,  the  merchant,  the  religionist — 

[22] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


everybody  is  trying  to  beat  everbody  else  in  the  exploitation 
of  something  new.  Styles  used  to  last  for  years,  with  very 
little  modification.  Now  they  scarcely  survive  a  season. 
And  a  thousand  and  one  new  mechanical,  literary,  musical, 
electrical,  theological,  scientific,  religious  and  philosophical 
ideas  are  pushed  to  the  front  every  year.  In  trying  to 
keep  in  the  race,  we  must  be  careful  not  to  get  too  many 
new  ideas  ourselves.  And  to  produce  the  right  ideas  of 
worth,  takes  judgment.  Spiritual  judgment  is  simply  the 
result  of  the  drawings  out  of  positive  faculties  and  qualities 
that  are  innate  in  every  man — in  some  more  pronounced 
than  in  others,  perhaps — and  the  filling  in  of  useful  knowl- 
edge that  is  within  the  reach  of  every  one  who  will 
sacrifice  his  self-indulgence  and  ease,  for  the  sake  of  acquir- 
ing the  study  habit.  Correct  judgment  is  nothing  more 
than  the  right  logical  combination  of  true  ideas.  This  gives 
us  the  clew  to  what  studies  and  training  are  necessary  to 
develop  good  spiritual  judgment.  To  get  hold  of  true  ideas 
we  need  trained  sense,  accurate  observation,  intensified  by 
close  attention,  the  habit  of  noting  the  slightest  difference 
and  putting  your  finger  upon  the  most  essential  similarities, 
and  care  to  take  in  the  surrounding  circumstances  and  back- 
ground of  the  ideas  under  investigation.  All  these  come 
by  study  and  self-development.  Having  settled  upon  true 
ideas,  the  next  thing  is  to  combine  them  logically.  That 
requires  the  power  of  reasoning.  But  there  are  laws  and 
processes  of  reasoning  as  immutable  as  the  historic  laws  of 
the  Medes  and  Persians.  There  is  no  necromancy  about 
that.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  learn  the  laws  and  apply 
them.  This  all  comes  under  the  first  head  of  the  great 
science,  or  philosophy,  of  area  development.  It  is  a  very 
important  part  of  ability,  the  name  I  have  given  to  the 
combination,  the  positives  of  the  intellect. 

And  as  I  remarked  in  the  beginning,  this  breathing 
spell  in  the  spiritual  race  is  a  good  time  to  pay  some  at- 
tention to  the  further  development  of  this  particular  part 
of  Area.  Then  we  shall  keep  on  the  right  track,  and  there 
will  be,  not  speed-madness,  but  a  fine,  steady,  accelerating, 

[23] 


THE    ORDER    OF    ZION 


long-distance  pace,  that  will  land  us,  bright  and  early,  after 
a  happy  run,  in  the  beautiful  City  of  God. 

Therefore  let  us  deal  fairly  with  one  another,  and  exe- 
cute that  good  judgment  that  will  cause  us  all  to  realize  that 
we  owe  the  same  due  respect  to  others,  as  we  wish  ourselves. 
Perhaps  we  are,  in  many  instances,  honest  in  certain  efforts, 
thinking  that  we  are  doing  the  will  of  the  Master.  Where- 
upon by  close  and  careful  self-observation,  we  will  find 
ourselves  far  from  right.  Sometimes  we  misunderstand  each 
other,  just  as  the  disciples  misunderstood  the  Saviour,  when 
he  told  them  he  was  the  bread  that  came  down  from  heaven, 
and  he  that  eateth  this  bread  shall  live  forever.  For  we  find 
here  that  many  of  the  disciples  walked  no  more  with  him. 
Therefore,  let  us  ever  be  careful  of  speed-madness,  and 
throw  ourselves  in  the  hand  of  God. 

JOHN    ZAHND. 

New   Albany,    Ind.,   2017   Culbertson   Ave. 

The  following  article  appeared  in  the  Saint's  Herald, 
of  Lamoni,  Iowa,  December  4,  1912. 

THE    BISHOPRIC. 

Notice  of  Appointment  of  Bishop's  Agent  for  the   District 
of    Southern    Indiana. 

The  Saints  and  Friends  of  the  Southern  Indiana  District 
of  the  Reorganized  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day 
Saints:  Please  take  notice  that  upon  the  resignation  of 
Brother  Zahnd,  bishop's  agent  in  and  for  said  district,  the 
Presiding  Bishopric  have  this  day  appointed  Elder  Charles 
H.  Fish,  of  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  agent  of  the  Bishopric  of 
said  church  in  and  for  the  territory  herein  named.  This 
appointment  authorizes  the  said  Brother  Charles  H.  Fish 
to  perform  the  duties  belonging  to  bishop's  agent  in  caring 
for  and  representing  financial  matters  of  the  said  Southern 
Indiana  District  according  to  the  rules  and  regulations  gov- 
erning the  same. 

[241 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


The  Bishopric  take  pleasure  also  in  extending  special 
thanks  to  Brother  John  Zahnd  for  his  excellent  work  as 
bishop's  agent  in  and  for  this  field.  Brother  Zahnd  has 
now  removed  from  that  part  of  the  missionry  field  and  we 
trust  the  Lord  will  remember  and  accompany  him  in  his 
new  home  and  work. 

Also  we  commend  Brother  Charles  H.  Fish  to  the 
Saints  of  the  Southern  Indiana  District,  and  ask  that  each 
one  within  said  district  and  each  lover  of  the  truth  of  Christ 
may  help  him  in  his  work  in  the  financial  way,  and  thus 
merit  a  place  that  comes  to  the  "doers  of  the  work"  in  this 
life.  Address  all  communications  to  Charles  H.  Fish,  645 
West  Twenty-ninth  St.,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Ever  hopeful  of  the  success  of  the  Lord's  work  and 
the  bringing  about  of  holier  and  better  conditions  in  the 
earth. 

Very  respectfully  submitted, 

E.  L.  KELLEY, 
Presiding  Bishop 

Independence,  Missouri,  November  22,  1912. 

The  following  clipping  was  taken  from  the  Zion's  Ensign 
of  Independence,  Mo.,  May  8th,  1913 : 

Bro.  John  Zahnd  has  been  placed  in  charge  of  the 
Englewood  Mission.  This  is  a  mission  to  the  west  of  Inde- 
pendence which  has  been  carried  on  for  sometime  by  Bro.  W. 
O.  Hands  with  good  success. 

The  following  clipping  was  taken  from  the  Zion's  En- 
sign of  Independence,  Mo.,  Sept.  10th,  1913: 

INDEPENDENCE  ITEMS 

Bro.  John  Zahnd,  who  has  charge  of  the  Englewood 
Mission,  has  arranged  for  a  series  of  meetings  to  be  held 
at  the  mission  beginning  next  Sunday.  Bro.  Ammon  White 
will  be  the  principal  speaker  and  the  effort  that  is  being 
made  with  advertising  ought  to  bring  out  a  good  attend- 
ance. Bro.  Zahnd  believes  in  advertising  and  if  there  is 
any  one  in  Englewood  who  will  not  be  made  acquainted 

[25] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


with  the  services,  it  will  not  be  Bro.  Zahnd's  fault.  Bro. 
G.  E.  Harrington  spoke  at  the  mission  on  Sunday  morning 
last,  and  Bro.  Ammon  White  in  the  evening. 

The  Sunday  services  at  the  stone  church  were  of  ex- 
cellent quality  throughout.  Bro.  J.  A.  Gillen  spoke  in  the 
morning,  giving  increased  faith  and  spirituality  to  the 
saints.  An  excellent  missionary  sermon  on  the  subject  of 
baptism  from  Bro.  Zahnd,  confirmed  the  members  present 
and  pointed  out  the  way  of  life  to  the  non-members.  The 
saints  usually  enjoy  a  sermon  on  the  first  principles. 

The  following  article  appeared  in  Zion's  Ensign  of 
Independence,  Mo.,  November  18,  1913: 

BENNINGTON  HEIGHTS  BRANCH 

For  some  time  our  branch  has  been  making  good  spirit- 
ual prograss.  Elder  D.  F.  Winn  acted  as  branch  president. 
Most  of  the  preaching  has  been  by  Pres.  D.  F.  Winn,  F.  C. 
Warnky,  D.  E.  Hough,  W.  S.  Brown,  C.  A.  Selbe  and  J. 
W.  Nanny. 

In  October,  Pres.  Winn  invited  Elder  John  Zahnd  and 
Geo.  Jenkins  to  hold  a  protracted  meeting.  They  continued 
fifteen  evenings,  including  three  Sundays.  The  attendance 
of  the  saints  was  good,  but  of  the  outsiders  it  was  not  so 
good  as  it  was  desired,  but  all  who  came  were  instructed, 
edified  and  built  up,  and  much  good  was  accomplished.  On 
the  closing  Sunday  at  prayer  meeting  we  had  a  grand  out- 
pouring of  God's  Holy  Spirit,  it  was  a  real  little  pentecost. 
God  manifested  to  us  through  the  gift  of  tongues  and  in- 
terpretation, saying  that  if  we  would  apply  the  instructions 
which  we  had  received,  then  Zion  would  soon  be  redeemed; 
and  that  Bros.  Zahnd  and  Jenkins  should  receive  as  a  re- 
ward sheaves  of  glory  for  their  faithful  labors. 

The  following  article  appeared  in  the  Public  Press  of 
New  Albany,  Ind.,  May  11,  1915: 

Mr.  John  Zahnd,  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  was  in  this  city 
last  week  on  business.  Mr.  Zahnd  is  doing  well  at  Kansas 
City.  He  was  formerly  one  of  New  Albany's  enterprising 
and  public  spirited  citizens  and  many  were  the  regrets 

[26] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


when   he   decided   upon   leaving   here   and   going   west,   but 
his  many  friends  are  glad  to  know  that  he  is  prospering. 

The  following  items  appeared  in  Zion's  Ensign  of  Inde- 
pendence, Mo.,  Sept.  7,  1916. 

KANSAS   CITY   CENTRAL   BRANCH 

At  the  eleven  o'clock  service  Bro.  Robert  Winning  was 
speaker.  His  text  was  first  thirteen  verses  of  26th  Chapter 
of  St.  Luke. 

In  the  evening  the  sermon  was  given  by  Bro.  John 
Zahnd  and  he  was  surely  blessed  by  a  good  portion  of 
God's  Holy  Spirit.  Many  were  pleased  and  helped  by  his 
sermon  and  he  had  quite  a  large  and  attentive  audience. 
His  subject  was  on  the  38th  and  39th  verses  of  the  8th 
Chapter  of  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  "For  I  am  per- 
suaded, that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  princi- 
palities, nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come, 
nor  height,  nor  depth  nor  any  other  creature  shall  be  able 
to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus,  our  Lord."  His  second  reading  was  Paul's  splendid 
testimony  before  King  Agrippa. 

B.  M.  BLEIL,  Reporter. 


[27] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


CHAPTER  4 

HE  history  of  leprosy  during  the  Middle  Ages  throws 
a  very  interesting  sidelight  on  the  life  and  manners 
of  those  times.  The  disease  was  prevalent  in  France 
as~earTy  as  the  eighth  century.  Lazar  houses  are  said  to  have 
been  common  as  far  back  as  Charlemange's  day.  While  from 
the  eleventh  to  the  fifteenth  century  there  was  hardly  a  town 
in  France  that  did  not  have  its  ladrerie  or  leper  hospital. 

Louis  VIII,  afterward  Saint  Louis,  was  the  patron  saint 
of  the  unfortunate  inmates.  A  story  is  told  of  a  visit  he 
made  to  a  leprous  monk  who  was  living  in  enforced  exile. 
Pork,  possibly  for  the  reason  that  swine  were  supposed  to 
be  likewise  susceptible  to  the  disease,  or  because  pork  was 
cheaper  than  the  other  meats,  was  the  stock  diet  of  the  lepers. 
Louis  found  the  afflicted  monk  eating  pork,  and  took  com- 
passion on  him.  Having  with  him  three  partridges  which 
he  had  caught,  he  roasted  the  birds  and  fed  them  to  the  grate- 
ful leper,  with  his  own  hands  "putting  morsels  in  his  mouth," 
as  forks  had  not  then  been  invented. 

The  United  States,  especially  since  it  has  taken  over 
the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and  the  Philippines,  has  come  face  to 
face  with  the  age  long  problem  of  leprosy.  The  leper  colony 
at  Molokoi  is  without  doubt  the  strangest  and  most  unearthly 
spot  within  its  realms.  It  is  literally  a  city  of  the  dead,  like 
those  mysterious  places  in  India  where  those  who  come  to 
life  at  the  brink  of  the  grave  are  consigned  as  to  a  purgatory. 
The  colony  has  its  churches,  schoolhouses,  its  brass  band, 
and  its  jail,  and  including  the  non-lepers,  mostly  friends  and 
relatives  of  the  exiles,  number  somewhat  more  than  one 
thousand.  Here  they  are  to  be  seen  in  every  stage  of  the 
abhorent  disease;  some  at  work  gardening  or  pounding  poi; 
others  chatting  or  smoking;  and  others  almost  dead,  lying 
supinely  on  mats.  Here,  on  a  narrow  peninsula,  surrounded 
on  three  sides  by  the  tumbling  sea,  and  on  the  fourth  by 
green,  cloud  capped  mountains,  they  must  spend  their  days; 
separated  forever  from  the  happy  life  of  the  home  islands, 

[281 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


and  from  the  touch  and  caresses  of  those  dear  to  them.  Gradu- 
ally their  fingers  drop  off  as  the  loathsome  disease  advances, 
and  the  appearance  of  a  sore  of  more  than  ordinary  size  or 
the  loss  of  a  finger  or  joint,  are  events  in  their  monotonous 
careers. 

We  read  in  2nd  Kings  5:1  that  Naaman  was  a  mighty 
man  in  valor,  but  he  was  a  leper,  and  only  by  obedience 
to  the  command  given  through  EHsha,  the  Prophet,  to  dip 
seven  times  in  Jordan,  did  he  get  relief.  How  many  of 
God's  people  in  this  day  are  stricken  with  the  dreadful 
disease  of  sin,  by  disobeying  the  command  to  keep  from 
all  impurity  of  the  world,  and  sustain  the  work  of  God? 
Little  by  little  is  the  dreaded  disease  eating  in  on  the  spiritual 
man,  and  by  and  by  one  after  another  will  fall  into  other 
vile  habits,  until  the  man  is  dead  spiritually  and  will  have 
to  be  separated  from  God  and  loved  ones,  when  he  comes 
to  reward  his  faithful. 

But  alas,  how  often  is  this  dreadful  picture  placed  be- 
fore our  minds,  and  we  only  pause  and  utter  a  sign,  then 
again  in  our  careless  and  unconcerned  way  do  continue. 
Those  that  are  chosen  to  preside  over  the  affairs  of  God's 
work  are  not  considered  until  we  become,  ofttimes  in  a 
helpless  condition.  Then  when  the  command  is  given,  "Go 
dip  seven  times  in  Jordan,"  we  get  wroth  as  did  Naaman, 
but  it  will  never  cure  the  dread  disease  of  sin,  carnality, 
filth,  highmindedness,  disregard  for  truth. 

We  have  the  poor.  We  have  the  Gospel  Message  to 
send  to  the  world.  We  have  Zion  to  redeem.  Well,  says 
one,  "I  am  not  able,"  but  listen  to  Naaman:  "Are  not 
Abna  and  Pharpar,  Rivers  of  Damascus,  better  than  all  the 
waters  of  Israel?  May  I  not  wash  in  them?"  The  answer 
is,  No,  dip  seven  times  in  Jordan,  or  die  the  death  that 
conies  from  the  leprosy  of  sin. 

Let  us  then  keep  ourselves  unspotted  from  this  dread- 
ful disease  of  "sin,"  that  is  eating  out  the  most  vital  parts 
of  our  being,  and  live  free  from  our  careless  ways,  so  that 
when  we  have  to  answer,  "Did  you  help  the  cause  of 
Christ?"  we  can  say,  "I  did." 

August,  1911. 

[29] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


SERMON  ON  BIOGRAPHY 
By   John    Zahnd. 

|  HE  study  of  the  lives  of  great  men  and  good  men 
helps  one  to  develop  ability.  It  develops  atten- 
tion, concentration,  judgment,  reason,  memory,  and 
imagination.  That  is  a  big  list  of  positives;  but  think  them 
over,  and  you  will  see  that  what  I  say  is  true — or  better, 
put  the  idea  in  practice;  study  good  biography  and  you 
will  see  results  that  will  prove  this  to  you,  to  your  profit 
and  pleasure. 

Studying  biography  helps  one  to  develop  reliability. 
It  gives  one  the  positive,  constructive  thoughts  of  others. 
It  leads  us  to  think  positive,  constructive  thoughts  of  our 
own.  It  makes  powerful  suggestions  for  reliability  through 
appeal  to  imagination.  It  arouses  the  positive  feelings  of 
ambition,  or  desire  to  serve;  hope,  faith,  justice,  earnestness, 
honesty,  kindness,  and  loyalty  to  the  higher  powers  we  are 
striving  to  serve.  It  is  especially  an  inspiration  to  faith, 
because  in  it  we  see  the  triumph  of  others  over  difficulties 
even  greater  than  those  that  confront  us.  We  rejoice  in  the 
fact  that  what  others  have  done  we  can  do. 

Biography  helps  to  develop  endurance.  It  inspires  one 
with  the  thought  of  the  simple  lives  and  outdoor  activities 
of  nearly  all  men  who  have  won  anything  like  real  and  last- 
ing success.  In  the  development  of  action  the  study  of 
biography  is  of  especial  value.  As  we  have  seen  in  the 
lives  of  those  around  us,  and  in  our  own  experiences,  there 
is  no  more  powerful  aid  to .  mighty  action  than  a  mighty 
incentive. 

Under  the  inspiration  of  some  soul-absorbing  emotion, 
men  have  again  and  again  accomplished  the  seemingly 
impossible.  And,  in  the  study  of  the  glorious  life  of  a  true 
man,  there  is  the  thrill  of  such  an  emotion  for  those  who 
get  into  harmony  with  it.  The  study  of  biography  gives 
one  an  insight  into  the  character  and  motives  of  other 
people.  We  learn  to  judge  human  nature  largely  through 
training  our  powers  of  observation  in  noting  resemblances 

(301 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


How  often  do  you  say,  "There  is  a  man  of  the  Christ 
type,"  or  the  "Lincoln  type."  And  when  your  observation 
was  correct,  you  found  that  the  men  you  thus  classified 
were  similar  to  their  prototypes,  not  only  in  appearance, 
but  in  character. 

In  the  study  of  biography  we  find  many  lights  on  the 
pathway  of  our  own  personal  problems.  Human  life  in  its 
essentials  is  very  much  the  same  everywhere  and  for  all 
human  beings.  The  differences  are  principally  non-essential. 
And  so  the  lives  of  men  we  study  had  to  meet  and  over- 
come the  same  difficulties  and  obstacles  that  confront  us  in 
our  upward  climb.  The  ways  they  found  around  them,  over 
them,  under  them,  or  through  them,  are  also  open  to  us. 

Finally,  biography  offers  a  course  of  practical  instruc- 
tion in  relative  values.  In  other  words,  it  is  one  of  the 
greatest  and  best  developers  of  a  proper  sense  of  propor- 
tion; it  has  been  said  that  the  reason  why  ninety-five  people 
of  every  hundred  fail  to  make  a  true  success  of  their  lives 
is  because  they  have  not  put  first  things  first. 

Humanity  is  prone  to  take  the  form  for  the  substance, 
the  imitation  for  the  real,  the  husk  for  the  kernel,  the  non- 
essential  for  the  essential.  Getting  down  to  concrete  things, 
people  are  strangely  tempted  to  prize  "accomplishment" 
rather  than  education,  a  minute  knowledge  of  sporting 
"dope"  rather  than  an  accurate  knowledge  of  their  own 
affairs,  scholarship  rather  than  wisdom,  a  college  degree 
rather  than  ability,  reputation  rather  than  character,  re- 
spectability rather  than  worth,  riches  rather  than  wealth, 
place  and  position  rather  than  usefulness,  clothes  and  hair  and 
complexion  rather  than  true  beauty,  forms  and  ceremonies 
rather  than  devotion  and  desire  to  serve. 

A  study  of  the  lives  and  the  characters  of  men  and 
women  of  power  and  success  will  open  our  eyes  to  true 
values.  If  it  did  nothing  else  for  us  it  would  be  worth 
years  of  our  most  earnest  study.  When  our  heart  burns 
with  the  clear  flame  of  a  desire  to  render  the  best  and 
highest  service  we  will  not  complicate  our  thoughts,  our 
words,  and  our  actions  with  any  artificial  ornamentations 
mixed  in  or  stuck  on  to  get  applause. 

[31] 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


Character  experts  tell  us  that  all  the  frills  and  furbelows 
of  dress,  writing,  speech,  and  behavior  can  be  traced  di- 
rectly to  an  enlarged  brain  area  of  approbativeness,  or  a 
desire  to  caper  in  the  spotlight. 

The  man  with  a  soul-absorbing  desire  to  serve,  cares 
nothing  for  the  plaudits  and  bouquets  of  the  unthinking, 
nor  for  the  gratitude  of  those  who  partly  understand.  He 
cares  as  little  for  the  sneers  and  jibes  of  the  jealous  and 
the  tinly  souled,  or  the  rage  of  big  sincere,  but  mistaken 
critics,  or  the  ingratitude  of  those  he  pours  out  his  life  to 
serve.  His  desire  is  to  serve  and  not  for  what  some  people 
think  are  the  rewards  of  service — these  are  less  than  noth- 
ing to  him.  Then  let  us  study  the  life  of  the  Christ,  so 
that  we  may  be  more  like  Him.  "His  biography  I  recom- 
mend to  all." 

PERFECT   LOVE   CASTETH   OUT   ALL    FEAR 
Sermon   by   John   Zahnd. 

|LL  the  processes  of  the  body  are  carried  on  by 
mental  energy,  the  power  of  thought.  This  is  a 
fundamental  principle  of  the  very  highest  import- 
ance and  one  that  God's  people  can  all  prove  for  them- 
selves. Think  of  some  delicious  morsel  of  food,  the  mouth 
fills  with  water.  Think  of  bending  the  finger,  and  unless 
stopped  by  a  counter-thought  the  finger  bends.  Concen- 
trate your  thought  intently  upon  your  right  hand  for  a  few 
minutes,  and  it  will  begin  to  tingle  and  fill  with  blood. 
These  are  very  simple  experiments,  but  they  prove  that  the 
power  that  produces  the  effects  originated  in  the  mind. 
For  instance,  you  have  learned  that  good,  causing  glad, 
cheerful  thinking,  makes  you  feel  better  and  stronger  physi- 
cally. You  may  know  what  it  is  to  be  instantly  relieved 
of  bodily  feelings  of  pain,  depression,  weakness,  loss  of 
appetite,  and  illness,  by  the  receipt  of  some  cheering  in- 
formation, as  the  unexpected  arrival  of  a  much  beloved 
relative  or,  friend,  which  has  filled  your  mind  with  happy 
thoughts. 

T32] 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


You  have  all  noticed  many  times  the  rapid  improve- 
ment in  health  and  beauty  of  young  people  who  have  made 
the  happy  discovery  that,  in  their  case  at  least,  the  course 
of  true  love  does  run  smoothly.  You  may  have  experi- 
enced this  for  yourself.  On  the  other  hand,  you  have  seen 
the  cheeks  pale,  the  eyes  dull,  the  appetite  fail,  the  body 
waste,  and  sickness  and  even  death  follow  as  the  result  of 
grief,  disappointment,  fear,  shame,  hatred,  or  some  other 
unhappy  thoughts. 

First,  we  shall  consider  the  effect  upon  the  body  of 
thoughts  and  feelings  in  general.  Second,  the  effect  of 
thoughts  and  feelings  centered  upon  the  body  and  its  parts 
and  functions.  Upon  examination  of  the  first  group  of 
phenomena,  we  find  that  it  is  very  naturally  divisible  into 
two  classes,  the  right  thoughts  and  feelings  and  their  re- 
sults, and  the  wrong  thoughts  and  feelings  and  their  re- 
sults. I  classify  these  mental  attitudes  and  processes  as 
positive  and  negative;  others  are  expansive  and  contractile. 
It  does  not  matter  very  much  what  we  call  them,  so  long 
as  we  understand  what  they  are,  and  how  to  cultivate  the 
right  kind  and  avoid  the  wrong  kind. 

The  first  and  most  important  of  the  good,  positive,  or 
expansive  thoughts  is  love.  In  its  highest,  best  and  widest 
sense,  love  is  the  foundation  of  them  all  and  includes  them 
all.  He  who  loves  himself,  his  fellow  creatures,  and  his 
God,  will  have  courage,  faith,  hope,  patience,  contentment, 
peace,  self-control,  poise,  power,  purity,  cheerfulness,  joy, 
happiness  and  all  the  rest  of  the  positives. 

This  is  not  a  treatis  on  ethics,  or  I  should  take  the 
space  to  show  how  this  is  true.  But  you  will  see  it  if  you 
think  it  out  carefully.  Now,  careful  experimentation  has 
shown  that  love  and  the  other  good  mental  processes  in- 
crease the  quantity  and  quality  of  mental  energy  available 
for  the  performance  of  the  bodily  functions.  The  result  of 
this  increase  is  stronger  and  better  actions  of  the  heart  and 
other  circulatory  organs;  quicker,  keener,  and  more  trust- 
worthy work  of  the  brain  and  nerves;  more  rapid,  thorough 
and  efficient  digest  and  assimilation  of  food  by  the  ali~ 

[33] 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


mentary  canal,  more  perfect  and  more  complete  elimination 
of  wastes  and  poisons  by  the  pores  of  the  skin,  kidneys  and 
oher  excretory  organs;  greater  air  capacity  and  more  normal 
oxygenation  of  the  blood  by  the  lungs;  and  richer,  purer 
and  more  vital  blood,  the  life  stream. 

All  this  means  that  the  body  can  do  more  work  with 
less  fatigue,  has  more  vitality,  energy,  and  beauty,  and  a 
much  higher  power  of  resistance  to  the  inroads  of  disease, 
when  the  mental  condition  is  positive  or  expansive,  than 
when  it  is  negative  or  contractile. 

Cheapest  and  worst  among  all  the  negative  thoughts 
and  feelings  is  fear  and  as  love  really  includes  all  the  other 
positive  thoughts,  so  fear  very  nearly  includes  all  the  other 
negative  thoughts.  The  man  who  has  fear  in  his  heart 
falls  very  easily  into  selfishness,  worry,  hatred,  doubt,  de- 
spair, discouragement,  impatience,  discontent,  anger,  in- 
temperance, impurity,  melancholy,  grief,  and  misery.  These 
thoughts  and  emotions  are  attitudes  of  mind,  and  waste  and 
weaken  mental  energy;  paralyze  the  brain  and  shrivel  the 
nerves,  contract  the  heart  and  other  blood  vessels,  hinder 
and  even  stop  altogether  the  digestive  processes,  obstruct 
the  work  of  the  eliminative  organs,  cramp  and  restrict  the 
chest  and  lungs,  actually  cutting  down  the  amount  of  air 
breathed,  and  impairing  oxygenation ;  weaken  and  impov- 
erish the  blood,  in  many  cases  generating  active  poisons  in 
the  life  stream,  and  thus  lower  the  vitality  and  resisting 
power  of  the  whole  organism.  Fear,  suspicion,  anger, 
grief,  and  humiliation  have  often  worked  such  havoc  in  the 
body  that  death  has  followed  as  a  direct  and  immediate 
result.  These  are  not  theories.  They  are  scientifically 
demonstrated  facts. 

You  want  to  know  how  to  get  free  from  bad,  negative 
contractile  thoughts,  and  how  to  cultivate  the  good,  posi- 
tive, expansive  kind.  There  are  two  ways  and  these  two 
are  one.  They  may  be  stated  in  two  words:  Think,  Do. 
Let  the  white  light  of  God  flow  through  you.  Say,  "I  can 
and  I  will." 

[34] 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


SELF-CONTROL-SERMON 
By   John    Zahnd. 

ELF-CONTROL  is  a  broad  definition  for  temperance 
in  all  things.  When  a  man's  better  nature  is  in  the 

ascendancy  and  every  bodily  inclination  is  held  in 

subjection,  the  highest  ideals  are  reached.  Much  is  involved 
in  the  brief  declaration  of  the  great  apostle,  "I  keep  my  body 
under."  The  welfare  of  every  soul  for  time  and  eternity  is 
based  upon  this  great  principle.  Vice  and  intemperance  in 
all  its  forms  are  the  direct  result  of  the  mind  being  held  in 
subjection  to  bodily  desires. 

God  speaks  to  men  in  a  manner  to  be  understood,  only 
through  the  exercise  of  mental  faculties.  He  has  therefore, 
ordained  that  the  mind  shall  be  endowed  with  all  the  essen- 
tials of  administrative  power.  The  intellect  enacts,  the  will 
executes,  the  judgment  approves  or  condemns.  It  is  the 
divine  purpose  that  the  entire  physical  organism  shall  be 
subject  to  this  perfectly  appointed  government. 

Physical  desires  for  inordinate  self-indulgence  are  the 
anarchists  who  are  constantly  seeking  to  overthrow,  this, 
the  highest  of  all  human  governments;  and  to  the  degree 
that  they  are  successful  the  individual  lowers  himself  in  the 
scale  of  physical,  mental,  and  moral  attainments. 

A  sad  feature  of  this  phychological  truth  lies  in  the 
fact  that  the  power  of  the  will  to  control  is  gradually  lost 
if  it  is  not  exercised.  In  this  the  common  law  holds  true, 
that  weakness  follows  a  lack  of  exercise.  On  the  other 
hand,  an  obedience  to  the  will  strengthens  that  faculty  of 
the  mind  and  makes  it  easier  to  resist  evil.  Thus  is  em- 
phasized the  importance  of  our  being  impressed  with  the 
absolute  necessity  of  a  constant  exercise  of  the  will  until 
its  demands  shall  be  the  faithful  execution  of  the  enact- 
ments of  the  mind,  and  all  the  course  of  life  be  under  this 
control.  This  is  keeping  "the  body  under." 

Every  step  in  this  course  is  in  the  direction  of  a  higher 
life — a  purer  and  nobler  manhood  and  womanhood.  The 
term  self-denial  is  used  to  denote  this  noble  exercise.  The 


[35] 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


Master  delivered  a  most  impressive  and  comprehensive  les- 
son when  he  said,  "Whosoever  will  come  after  me,  let  him 
deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me."  Self-denial 
calls  for  a  great  deal  of  self-control,  in  order  that  we  may 
hold  our  lives  in  subjection  to  the  will  of  Christ.  In  order 
to  do  this  it  requires  keen  forethought,  as  to  the  outcome 
of  our  conduct  in  our  daily  lives.  We  often  do  not  realize 
what  even  the  self-denial  of  a  few  words,  spoken  in  haste, 
might  mean  to  others,  if  we  had  the  proper  self-control  not 
to  speak  them. 

How  well  it  would  be  if  we  endeavored  to  hold  our- 
selves in  control,  even  though  it  might  pain  us  at  times  to 
do  so.  However,  the  endurance  is  short,  and  we  can  soon 
see  that  self-restraint  was  for  our  good.  It  is  true  that  we 
can  often  see  an  injustice  placed  against  us,  and  then  it 
seems  hard  to  exercise  self-control.  But  let  us  think  what 
it  meant  to  our  Master  when  he  was  maligned  before  Pilate. 
Yet  he  spoke  not  a  word,  with  all  the  false  accusations 
placed  against  him.  That  to  me  was  a  noble  silence,  a  won- 
derful example  of  self-control. 

THE  GLASS  OF  LIFE 

Did  you  ever  slowly  fill  a  glass  with  water  and  then, 
just  as  it  seemed  full  to  overflowing  add  drop  after  drop 
until  the  level  of  the  water  was  above  the  level  of  the 
glass?  And  then  there  came  a  time  when  by  adding  one 
drop  there  flowed  over  the  edge  a  little  rivulet  that  formed 
a  pool  on  the  table?  Of  course,  you  have  done  this,  have 
seen  it  done,  or  learned  of  its  being  done  by  some  one  else. 
It  seems  to  me  that  our  lives  are  like  glasses.  We  add  a 
little  to  our  strength,  day  by  day  just  a  little  apparently  in- 
significant bit  of  strength.  To  us  it  seems  that  this  addition 
will  not  produce  anything  of  importance.  But  if  we  com- 
pared our  lives  with  the  glass  to  which  water  is  being 
added  drop  by  drop,  we  would  see  in  a  moment  by  the 
addition  of  a  little  strength,  added  day  by  day  to  our 
lives  and  forming  a  stream  of  spiritual  progress,  what  the 
little  things  amount  to  in  life. 

Daily  is  the  truth  of  Michael  Angelo's  saying,  "Trifles 

[36] 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


make  perfection,  and  perfection  is  no  trifle,"  made  apparent 
in  the  lives  of  men  and  women  in  the  church  who  are  doing 
so  much  to  promote  the  Gospel  work.  The  acorn  is  a  small 
thing,  yet  from  that  small  thing  the  great  oak  grows.  The 
tree  adds  but  one  ring  a  year,  yet  there  are  trees  so  great 
that  men,  the  lords  of  creation,  travel  thousands  of  miles 
to  stare  at  them  in  wonder.  The  greatest  work  in  the 
church  is  accomplished  only  after  years  of  patience.  There 
is  such  a  thing  as  inspiration,  but  inspiration  is  to  a  man 
what  a  final  drop  of  water  is  to  the  glass  that  is  ready  to 
overflow.  It  comes  only  as  the  final  touch.  To  be  worthy 
of  great  inspirations  we  must  live  each  day  to  the  best  of 
our  ability,  even  when  the  road  which  we  daily  journey 
seems  to  lead  into  the  desert.  Because  we  are  not  great  is  no 
reason  we  should  ever  be  despondent.  The  desert  we  may  see, 
was  seen  by  others  before  us.  Some  lost  heart  and  died,  a  few 
traveled  hopefully  onward  and  saw  the  promised  land  ahead. 
We  cannot  see  how  yielding  to  a  negative  for  a  moment's 
pleasure  will  interfere  with  our  success,  but  think  of  the 
glass,  the  negative  takes  away  the  drops  which  help  to 
fill.  We  may  be  chosen  to  fill  some  office  in  the  great  Gospel 
Work.  If  so,  we  should  endeavor  to  so  fill  the  place  that  it 
would  do  honor  to  the  work.  Those  that  are  constantly 
seeking  higher  places  without  adding  water,  drop  by  drop 
to  the  glass,  will  never  accomplish  the  desire  they  hope  for. 
In  the  advancement  of  his  work  God  can  only  use  men 
willing  to  humble  themselves  to  the  little  things,  to  the 
simple  things  of  life.  You  want  happiness,  then  fill,  do  not 
spill,  the  glass  of  life. 

JOHN  ZAHND. 

OPPORTUNITY 

There  is  much  misunderstanding,  confusion,  and  decep- 
tion over  what  is  termed  opportunity.  Men  long  for  "op- 
portunities" to  break  away  from  present  conditions,  to  be 
stronger,  wiser,  richer,  more  useful  members  of  society. 
They  would  do  thus  and  so  to  brighten  the  future  of  those 
who  love  them  if  they  only  had  the  "opportunity"  and  they 

[37] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


often  go  down  life's  pathway  to  the  end  vainly  looking  to 
the  right  and  left  for  the  chance  which  is  sought,  yet  never 
catching  a  glimpse  of  it. 

Opportunity  is  a  door  leading  up  to  another  plane  of 
life.  But  that  door  is  not  plainly  marked  like  the  exits  of 
a  theatre.  "Enter  here"  is  not  written  over  the  portal. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  fairly  easy  to  find  the  door  to  any  chosen 
place;  for  all  around  all  of  us  are  plenty  of  opportunities. 
Look  not  afar  for  the  opening.  Look  close  at  hand  for  it, 
whatever  direction  your  ambition  may  take.  Look  intently, 
think  long  and  deeply  about  your  virtues  and  vices  and 
circumstances.  Perhaps  in  the  very  work  which  is  in  your 
hands  is  the  knob  which  swings  open  the  door  of  the 
opportunity  for  which  you  long.  If  you  cannot  find  the  op- 
portunity, then  you  are  unworthy  of  the  better  place  to 
which  that  opportunity  would  lead  you.  Water  seeks  its 
level.  In  the  long  run  every  man  is  where  he  belongs; 
because  even  if  he  be  fitted  for  a  better  place  than  that 
which  he  is  now  filling,  the  very  fact  that  he  has  not  at  least 
broken  out  of  his  shell  and  won  that  better  place  shows  that 
there  is  a  little  something  lacking,  maybe  very  little,  in  his 
equipment  for  the  larger  sphere.  Perhaps  you  are  in  a 
shop  where  you  feel  that  you  should  be  an  executive  officer 
of  the  concern.  You  might  perhaps  do  even  better  than  those 
now  over  you;  but  the  very  fact  that  you  have  not  de- 
veloped sufficiently  in  wisdom  to  perceive  the  door  of  op- 
portunity and  move  out  and  on,  shows  that  there  is  some- 
thing lacking  within  you.  Is  it  lack  of  initiative,  courage, 
confidence,  resourcefulness,  moral  character  which  inspires 
confidence  in  others?  Without  these  you  might  fail  as 
an  executive.  Supply  these,  and  the  opportunity  is  visible. 

A  man  advances  as  the  powers  of  his  mind  unfold,  and 
men  and  conditions  are  generally  powerless  to  hold  him 
down.  To  eliminate  one's  weaknesses  is  to  add  to  the 
source  of  power  not  only  for  a  day  or  an  hour,  but  through- 
out life.  A  business-like,  systematic,  persistent  self-examina- 
tion of  character  and  habit  will  reveal  to  each  one  his  very 
many  weak  points  under  the  various  headings  to  which 

T383 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


they  belong,  such  as  impatience — wasted  energy  in  con- 
demning persons  or  things  when  the  fault  is  perhaps  with 
self — profligacy — letting  slip  through  the  fingers  priceless 
hours,  useful  little  coins  which  might  be  saved  for  a  rainy 
day,  opportunities  to  do  acts  of  kindness  or  helpfulness 
which  would  give  needed  aid  to  others  less  fortunate  and 
which  would  broaden  self  in  the  doing;  procrastination, 
lack  of  decision,  putting  off  until  some  other  time  the  perform- 
ance of  those  things  which  might  with  a  little  effort  be  done 
now ;  cowardice — avoiding  the  attacking  of  those  tasks  or  du- 
ties which  one  sees  or  admits  to  be  part  of  his  mission  in  life, 
keeping  out  of  politics,  churches,  charitable  works,  drifting 
along — going  through  life  without  any  great  plan  or  object,  liv- 
ing from  hand  to  mouth,  and  learning  only  what  is  easy,  con- 
venient, or  absolutely  necessary.  These  are  only  sugges- 
tions ;  books,  companions,  personal  and  mental  habits  are 
other  headings.  But  each  individual  makes  his  own  list,  and 
as  he  proceeds  in  the  self-examination  he  will  at  least  come 
to  know  himself.  Having  thus  learned  self  from  within, 
he  will  be  able  to  detect  in  his  conversation,  address  and 
general  deportment,  his  various  exterior  evidences  of  weak- 
ness, and  may  be  in  time  eliminate  all  and  substitute  in 
their  place  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  which  will  mark  him 
to  be  a  man. 

Each  weakness  that  is  eliminated  from  within  means  a 
growing,  strengthening,  and  broadening  of  character.  It  is 
an  uncovering  of  a  new  source  of  power. 

JOHN  ZAHND. 


[39] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


CHAPTER  5 

HEN  but  a  child  I  was  much  impressed  that  my  life 
should  be  given  to  the  service  of  God  and  while 
a  child  many  times  desired  to  unite  with  the  church 
organization  that  my  mother  was  a  member  of,  she  being 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Church  from  childhood,  but  as 
my  father  was  a  member  from  childhood  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  there  was  a  difference  of  opinion  in  a  way,  leaving 
the  home  divided  in  regard  to  religious  ideas,  and  as  I  ad- 
vanced in  years  I  drifted  in  life  away  from  the  thought  of 
uniting  with  any  religious  sect  and  spent  my  time  in  the 
boyhood  days  more  or  less  in  a  drifting  way,  as  far  as 
religious  thoughts  or  convictions  were  concerned.  How- 
ever, many  times  my  mother,  in  her  prayers  for  me,  made 
mention  that  she  felt  that  at  sometime  I  should  enter  into 
the  work  of  our  Lord  and  Master. 

Finally,  about  the  year  1902,  I  began  to  give  this  mat- 
ter more  serious  thought,  and  many  times  reflected  upon 
my  life's  work  and  began  to  consider  whether  or  not  I 
should  have  any  definite  aim  or  purpose  or  whether  or  not 
I  should  drift  with  the  tide  which  is  usually  termed  as  the 
way  of  least  resistance,  but  my  convictions  changed  to  the 
thought  that  I  would  unite  with  some  church  organization 
and  that  my  life  should  be  given  to  God's  service,  but  here 
is  where  I  began  to  find  one  of  the  hardest  obstacles  that 
ever  confronted  me  in  life,  as  with  me  it  seemed  a  question 
as  to  what  organization  would  be  the  proper  one  to  unite 
with. 

So,  after  considering  the  claims  of  several  different 
church  organizations  and  finding  so  many  various  opinions 
and  at  the  same  time  continuing  to  seek  for  light,  I  finally 
came  in  contact  with  the  organization  known  as  the  Re- 
organized Church  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints  with 
headquarters  at  Lamoni,  Iowa.  After  listening  to  their 
plea  as  set  forth  in  their  belief  and  principle  of  doctrine, 
the  one  important  thing  which  appealed  to  me  was  the 

UO] 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


question  of  all  things  in  common.  It  seemed  that  they  set 
forth  the  thought  and  belief  and  taught  that  every  man 
should  labor  with  his  own  hands  and  that  there  should  be 
no  system  of  autocracy,  and  as  I  had  always  believed  that 
there  should  be  no  hired  minister  and  that  no  man  should 
live  off  of  the  toils  of  others  and  as  I  was  assured  that  this 
was  the  belief  and  doctrine  of  this  organization,  I  accepted 
their  doctrine,  as  a  church,  as  much  as  I  understood  it  and 
on  February  13th,  1904,  I  was  baptized  at  Sulphur,  Ind., 
by  an  elder  in  said  church,  T.  W.  Chatburn,  of  the  mis- 
sionary force,  driving  12  miles  in  the  country  where  we 
went  to  a  creek,  after  breaking  the  ice  and  complying  with 
what  I  believed  to  be  the  Master's  desire. 

After  being  confirmed  by  the  laying-on  of  hands  and 
and  retiring  again  to  my  home  there  was  an  impression 
came  over  me  which  made  me  feel  that  I  had  then  taken 
a  new  step  in  life  in  acknowledging  our  Lord  and  Savior 
Jesus  Christ  and  began  to  meditate  in  much  silence  and 
prayer  as  to  whether  or  not  I  had  taken  the  right  step. 
While  meditating  in  this  way  I  received  a  divine  assurance 
that  the  command  of  God  when  carried  out  with  honest 
convictions  was  acceptable  of  Him,  so  I  made  the  matter  of 
much  continued  meditation  and  prayer  and  believing  in  the 
gifts  of  the  Gospel  I  felt  that  an  assurance  other  than  what 
men  could  give  was  due  unto  those  who  had  faith  without 
doubting  and  after  continued  quietude  and  prayer  I  retired 
to  my  bed,  but  was  awakened  in  the  night  by  the  visitation 
of  a  heavenly  messenger  who  came  to  my  room. 

All  of  a  sudden  conditions  surrounding  me  were 
changed  and  a  light  came  about  me  and  in  this  condition 
I  was  made  to  rejoice,  because  I  understood  that  I  had  been 
accepted  of  our  Lord  and  all  of  a  sudden  a  personage 
entered,  walked  directly  to  the  bed,  laid  his  hands  upon  me 
with  that  same  touch  that  is  felt  when  anyone  would  ordi- 
narily touch  me  and  while  said  personage  was  standing 
over  me  I  was  ordained  to  the  office  of  an  elder  and  in 
this  I  was  confirmed  to  preach  and  teach  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  Christ,  after  which  the  personage  disappeared  from 
me. 

[41] 


THE    ORDER    OF    ZION 


After  this,  feeling  that  I  might  be  mistaken  in  what 
had  transpired,  as  doubting  always  comes,  because  this  the 
power  of  Satan  to  deceive,  I  went  to  a  quiet  place  in  the 
woods  a  short  distance  from  the  town  in  which  I  lived  and 
there  with  no  one  to  molest  me  I  bowed  down  and  continued 
in  prayer  for  about  one  hour  and  stopped  of  a  sudden  feel- 
ing that  my  prayer  would  not  be  answered,  when  there  came 
to  me  the  message,  "Have  faith  in  God,"  so  I  continued  my 
prayer  and  suddenly  the  sun  seemed  to  disappear  and  there 
came  a  deep  blue  sky  surrounding  me  and  from  an  upward 
source  there  came  a  personage  directly  toward  me  and  stop- 
ped about  what  I  would  judge  to  be  10  feet  above  me  in  the 
air  and  then  I  realized  that  it  was  Jesus  Christ,  himself, 
extending  his  hands  toward  me  and  for  the  first  time  in  life 
I  was  made  to  know  that  his  appearance  to  the  Disciples 
was  confirmed  to  me  and  that  anyone  who  would  be  faith- 
ful, earnest  and  consecrated  would  receive  the  witness 
which  placed  me  beyond  all  doubt. 

I,  however,  after  this  experience,  seemed  like  many* 
others,  to  think  that  my  call  to  the  ministry  rested  upon  a 
decision  of  men  and  with  this  thought  in  mind  did  not 
consider  that  God  had  a  right  to  ordain  those  whom  he 
desired  in  his  service,  but  I  now  can  plainly  see  that  as  the 
Lord  visited  the  Prophet  Samuel,  when  a  child,  and  called 
him,  that  even  in  this  day  of  doubt  and  gloom  that  men 
can  be  called  and  used  in  his  service  just  as  well  as  in  the  past. 

I,  however,  waited  my  time,  was  ordained  a  priest  at 
Louisville,  Ky.,  Oct.  2nd,  1907,  by  Elder  G.  T.  Griffith,  and 
was  ordained  an  Elder  at  Wirt,  Ind.,  by  Elder  H.  E.  Moler. 
Later  I  was  ordained  a  Counselor  to  the  Kirtland  Quorum 
of  Elders,  May  19th,  1912,  and  I  served  for  6  years  as  a 
Bishop's  Agent  of  Southern  Indiana  District.  I  was  also 
chosen  as  President  of  the  New  Albany,  Ind.,  branch  when 
it  was  organized  and  for  a  while  served  as  President  of 
both  the  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  New  Albany  branches.  On 
Oct.  21st,  1911,  I  was  chosen  President  of  the  Southern 
Indiana  District  and  served  as  such  until  November  1st, 
1912,  when  I  resigned,  moving  west  to  Kansas  City,  Mo., 
where  I  am  now  located,  this  year  1918. 
[42] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


The  purpose  of  giving  the  above  history  is  to  show  my 
connection  with  said  church  and  also  to  show  that  there  was 
due  confidence  and  consideration  placed  in  me,  as  a  Minister, 
but  I  was  sadly  disappointed  in  findinig  that  the  church,  as 
an  organization,  like  many  other  institutions,  fell  far  short 
of  practicing  and  teaching  the  Gospel,  as  I  understood  it 
and  the  way  I  feel  that  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ 
had  taught  it  when  upon  the  earth. 

1st.  We  find  that  the  Latter  Day  Saints  Church  has 
instituted  a  system  of  government  which  is  entirely  out 
of  harmony  with  true  democracy  and  like  other  organiza- 
tions, the  institution  is  maintained  principally  by  giving  the 
claim  and  right  to  men  to  inherit  a  religious  throne  and  to 
dictate  to  the  people  what  must  please  those  in  charge  and 
autocracy  never  was  the  intention  of  the  Christ  Church 
upon  earth.  The  President  of  the  Church  claims  the  right 
to  select  his  own  Counselors  and  of  late  he  also  selects  the 
12  apostles  and  has  the  right  to  dismiss  them  at  a  word 
and  no  one  dares  to  question  his  right  to  do  so.  Further- 
more, he  claims  the  right  to  choose  the  12  high  counselors 
which  constitute  the  high  counsel  of  the  church,  and  no 
one  dare  for  one  moment  to  oppose  him,  so  being  surrounded 
by  this  kind  of  council,  there  is  no  chance  of  him  ever  being 
put  to  trial  or  to  answer  to  the  people,  as  he  stands  in  a 
position  as  a  dictator  upon  the  throne,  and  at  any  time  that 
the  sentiment  seems  to  be  too  strong  against  him,  he  sees 
fit  to  choose  the  means  of  revelation,  claiming  to  receive  a 
command  to  the  church,  which  of  course,  very  few  indi- 
viduals ever  object  to. 

I  desire  to  cite  some  circumstances  to  confirm  the  above. 
In  recent  years  when  Joseph  Smith  was  head  of  the  Church, 
the  twelve  presiding  at  that  time  claimed  that  one  of  the 
counselors,  R.  C.  Evans,  was  in  transgression,  and  they 
stated  that  they  refused  to  sustain  him,  then  it  seemed  to 
have  dawned  upon  the  President  of  the  Church  that  a 
revelation  was  necessary  so  he  brings  one  forth  claiming  it 
to  be  of  God.  In  it  R.  C.  Evans  is  released  and  the  state- 
ment is  made  that  he  was  faithful  and  his  reward  was  sure. 

[43] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


The  question  is  if  this  was  transgression,  how  could 
the  Lord  state  that  his  reward  was  sure  and  that  he  had 
been  faithful.  There  surely  was  a  deception  upon  the  part 
of  the  12  or  upon  the  part  of  the  President  of  the  Church. 
Again,  as  soon  as  he  was  released,  this  same  man,  R.  C. 
Evans,  was  ordained  a  Bishop  of  the  Church.  At  the  same 
time  members  of  the  12  have  told  me  in  person  that  his 
character  was  in  question  and  that  he  did  things  that  were 
too  degrading  and  low  to  be  brought  to  the  light  of  the  public. 

Another  citation  in  a  late  revelation  it  was  purported 
that  Bishop  E.  L.  Kelly  would  be  removed,  as  Presiding 
Bishop  of  the  Church  and  that  his  counselor  was  to  come 
forth  and  take  his  place,  as  Presiding  Bishop,  but  after 
Mr.  Blakesly  refused  to  accept  the  position,  we  find  then 
that  President  F.  M.  Smith  was  impressed  by  the  spirit 
after  the  other  man  refused  and  he  purported  to  have  a 
revelation  choosing  Benj.  McGuire,  of  New  York  City,  as 
Presiding  Bishop  of  the  Church,  a  man  who  was  little 
known  to  most  of  the  membership.  In  fact  I  had  never 
heard  of  him. 

He  claims  the  right  to  choose  men  and  appoint  them 
over  stakes  and  over  large  branches  and  they  are  sent  with- 
out vote  of  the  people  and  if  not  accepted,  of  course,  an- 
other would  be  chosen  and  sent  when  the  law  plainly 
states  that  the  branches  shall  choose  their  own  officers. 
I  have  no  desire  to  reflect  upon  the  church,  as  an  institution, 
but  believe  that  in  the  Order  of  Zion  that  the  only  solution 
to  this  matter  would  be  that  the  people  will  be  given  the 
free  right  to  manage  their  own  affairs  and  in  thhis  way 
the  doubt,  skepticism,  etc.,  will  be  removed  and  the  truth 
of  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  will  prevail. 

The  moment  that  you  place  an  unlimited  power  in  the 
hands  of  any  man,  you  can  find  that  the  end  will  bring  dis- 
solution, doubt  and  discord  and  in  the  end  we  find  that  this 
has  been  the  cause  of  hundreds  of  church  organizations 
being  established  in  the  world.  For  this  reason  in  the 
following  chapters  I  choose  to  point  out  to  the  honest  con- 
scientious people  some  of  the  things  necessary  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  Zion  and  the  preparation  for  the  time  when 
Jesus  Christ  shall  return  to  the  earth  and  claim  His  own. 

[44] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


CHAPTER  6 

E  quote  from  Isaiah  35th  Chapter  and  10th  Verse, 
"And  the  ransomed  of  the  Lord  shall  return  and 
come  to  Zion  with  songs  and  everlasting  joy  upon 
their  heads.  They  shall  obtain  joy  and  gladness  and  sorrow 
and  sighing  shall  flee  away."  We  will  notice  by  this  that 
Zion  shall  be  a  place  of  happiness,  shall  be  a  place  of  con- 
tentment where  individuals  will  live  in  peace  and  happiness. 
This  can  only  be  when  the  Order  of  Zion  is  established 
with  equal  justice  and  equity  unto  all  men.  There  can  be 
no  individual  occupying  a  high  and  exhalted  position  and 
presume  himself  to  be  a  Lord  or  leader  over  all,  but  the 
saints  shall  arrange  their  own  manner  and  ways  in  accord- 
ance with  common  law  of  justice. 

In  Isaiah  24th  Chapter  and  23rd  Verse,  we  notice  a 
very  important  statement.  "As  the  moon  shall  be  confounded 
and  the  sun  made  ashamed  and  the  Lord  of  Hosts  shall 
reign  in  Mount  Zion  and  Jerusalem."  It  is  well  to  note 
here  that  Zion  will  have  two  separate  places  and  that  the 
gathering  of  the  saints  is  not  confined  to  Jewish  people 
only,  but  that  all  mankind  will  enjoy  the  peace  and  happi- 
ness, if  they  comply  with  the  law  of  Christ  that  is  promised 
in  the  Order  of  Zion. 

Isaiah  61st  Chapter  1st  to  3rd  Verses.  We  find  the 
blessed  promise  made  to  comfort  all  that  mourn  in  Zion 
and  to  give  to  them  beauty  that  they  might  be  called  trees 
of  righteousness.  In  this  we  can  see  that  Zion  is  to  be 
a  place  of  joy  and  peace  and  comfort,  a  place  of  beauty  to 
them  that  dwell  in  righteousness  and  in  this  we  can  readily 
see  that  as  long  as  confusion  exists  among  church  organiza- 
tions because  of  claims  that  are  made  in  men  demanding 
the  right  to  lord  it  over  all  it  cannot  be  a  condition  in 
Zion. 

Hosea  2nd  Chapter,  18th  Verse,  shows  plainly  that  in 
the  day  the  Order  of  Zion  is  established  that  a  covenant 

[45] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


will  be  made  with  the  beasts  of  the  fields,  the  fowls  of  the 
air  and  all  creeping  things  and  all  swords  and  battle  shall 
do  no  harm,  as  all  may  lie  down  safely.  It  is  evident  then 
that  God  intends  that  a  place  should  be  established  where 
that  strife  and  contention  must  cease  and  that  when  Jesus 
Christ  shall  come  and  dwell  in  the  midst  of  Zion,  those  of 
a  people  who  have  become  so  righteous  and  united  that  it 
shall  be  an  ensign  unto  the  nations. 

Obadiah,  17th  Verse,  the  statement  is  made  that  upon 
Mount  Zion  shall  be  deliverance  and  in  the  21st  Verse  the 
statement  is  made  that  the  Savior  shall  come  upon  Mount  Zion 
and  the  kingdom  shall  be  the  Lords.  By  this  you  can 
readily  see  that  the  Lord  will  come  and  reign  supreme  and 
there  will  be  no  earthly  kingdom  which  will  hold  the 
ruling  power,  but  those  of  purity,  of  lives  and  the  actions 
of  the  saints  will  be  as  savious  unto  the  world.  In  doing 
this  they  must  live  in  such  a  manner  that  they  shall  be  as  a 
light  set  upon  a  hill. 

Zachariah,  2nd  Chapter,  10th  to  13th  Verses.  We  notice 
that  many  nations  shall  be  joined  in  that  day  and  Jesus, 
our  Lord,  shall  dwell  in  the  midst  of  Zion  and  Jerusalem 
shall  be  chosen  again,  so  we  can  be  assured  that  when 
Zion  is  established  in  righteousness  and  it  is  made  a  fit 
place  for  Jesus,  our  Lord,  to  return  and  dwell  therein,  then 
Jerusalem  shall  be  chosen  again  and  the  promise  made  to 
the  Jewish  people  will  be  fulfilled. 

Micah,  4th  Chapter,  2nd  Verse,  shows  that  the  law 
shall  go  forth  out  of  Zion  and  the  Word  of  the  Lord  from 
Jerusalem  showing  plainly  that  the  designs  of  the  Lord 
are  to  establish  a  place  where  His  law  may  be  executed  and 
where  righteousness  shall  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters 
pver  the  sea. 

Zachariah,  4th  Chapter,  2nd  Verse.  We  notice  that  two 
olive  trees  are  referred  to,  the  one  upon  the  right  of  the 
bowl  and  the  other  upon  the  left  side  thereof  and  the  ques- 
tion is  asked  who  are  these  and  the  answer  was  saying  this 
is  the  Word  of  the  Lord  unto  Zerubbabel  or  scattered 
Jerusalem  that  not  by  might  nor  by  power,  but  by  my 

[46] 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


spirit  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts  shall  Zion  be  ruled.  The  two 
olive  trees  referred  to  here  as  shown  in  the  llth  verse  being 
upon  the  right  side  of  the  candlestick  and  upon  the  left 
side  there  can  readily  be  defined  in  this  wise,  the  right 
and  left  of  the  bowl  would  indicate  the  great  ocean  that 
separates  one  continent  from  another  and  the  two  olive 
branches  referred  to  will  be  the  establishing  of  Zion  on  one 
side  and  Jerusalem  on  the  other  and  the  candlestick  surely, 
which  is  referred  to,  would  have  reference  to  Jesus  Christ 
as  in  the  14th  verse  it  is  plainly  stated  that  these  two  places 
shall  be  as  anointed  ones  that  will  stand  by  the  Lord  of  the 
whole  earth. 

In  Revelations,  14th  Chapter  and  1st  verse,  we  will 
notice  that  a  lamb  stood  on  Mount  Zion  and  with  him  an 
hundred  forty  and  four  thousand  having  the  Father's  name 
written  in  their  foreheads  and  they  were  to  sing  a  new 
song  before  the  throne  and  before  the  beasts  and  the  elders 
and  no  man  could  remember  that  song,  but  the  redeemed 
from  the  earth.  It  is  hard  for  individuals  to  understand 
the  meaning  of  this  new  song  and  it  can  only  be  understood 
by  the  divine  evidence  of  the  holy  spirit,  which  guides  all 
men  in  the  way  of  truth  and  light.  The  new  song  is  a  new 
condition,  a  new  order  of  things,  a  place  where  people  live 
in  common,  where  there  are  neither  rich  nor  poor  and 
where  justice  and  equity  is  the  one  dominating  rule. 


[47] 


THE    ORDER    OF    ZION 


CHAPTER  7 

ALL  THINGS  IN  COMMON 

|N  order  that  Zion  may  be  established  in  accordance 
with  the  law  of  our  Saviour,  it  is  well  for  us  to 
consider  what  this  law  is  and  then  apply  ourselves 
to  the  same.  In  the  16th  Chapter  of  Exodus,  we  notice  that 
when  bread  had  been  sent  from  heaven  the  common  law 
prevailed,  and  therein  we  can  plainly  see  that  when  the 
bread  fell  from  heaven  that  he  who  gathered  much  had 
little  and  he  that  had  little  had  all  which  was  needed.  In 
other  words,  things  were  held  in  common  and  there  were 
neither  rich  nor  poor  under  the  law  of  rules  which  regu- 
lated their  affairs. 

In  the  9th  Chapter  of  Nehemiah  we  will  notice  especi- 
ally in  the  20th  verse,  that  God  withheld  not  the  manna 
from  ther  needs,  but  gave  them  land,  houses  and  cities  to 
dwell  in.  In  other  words,  it  is  very  plain  to  notice  especially 
to  those  who  desire  to  do  so  that  the  common  law  of  all 
things  being  equal  was  to  be  the  order  as  understood  by 
the  Prophet. 

In  the  25th  Chapter  of  Leviticus  we  have  a  definite 
outline  showing  conditions  which  prevailed  and  especially  in 
the  9th  and  10th  verses  the  year  of  jubilee  is  referred  to 
when  all  was  again  restored  and  every  one  received  their 
own.  In  the  24th  and  25th  verses  we  notice  that  the  land 
would  be  returned  even  if  the  heirs  made  claim  for  same. 
There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  those  that  are  honestly 
seeking  the  truth  can  see  here  that  there  was  a  working  sys- 
tem wherein  that  men  were  about  to  take  advantage  and  to 
take  the  property  from  others  because  of  their  smooth  way 
of  speculating  and  accumulating  and  for  this  purpose  every 
50th  year  was  set  aside  when  that  everything  should  be 
restored  to  its  original  owner  so  that  justice  and  equality 
might  prevail.  In  the  31st  verse  there  is  reference  made 

T48] 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


especially  to  the  money  lender,  that  he  should  take  no  usury 
or  interest  and  we  can  readily  see  that  under  this  law  that 
the  borrower  was  not  hiade  a  slave  to  the  lender  as  under 
the  present  conditions  we  find  that  many  times  the  poor 
pay  usury  or  interest  which  sometimes  verges  on  to  straight- 
out  robbery. 

In  the  20th  Chapter  of  Mathew,  1st  to  16th  verses, 
Christ  refers  to  the  kingdom  of  God  and  likens  it  unto  the 
laborers  who  went  out  into  the  harvest  field  or  vineyard  and 
labored  for  a  penny  a  day.  Those  that  went  out  in  the  first 
hour  received  a  penny,  those  that  went  out  in  the  3rd  hour 
received  a  penny,  those  that  went  out  to  their  labor  in  the 
6th  and  9th  and  llth  hours  all  received  the  same  com- 
pensation. By  this  we  can  readily  see  that  our  Lord  and 
Master  had  no  intention  but  what  all  should  share  equally 
and  when  anyone  was  converted  to  the  Gospel  and  had 
yielded  obedience  thereto  he  became  as  one  family  of  God 
and  shared  equally  in  all  things  common,  inasmuch  as  he 
complied  with  the  law  of  Christ. 

In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  2nd  Chapter,  44th  verse, 
it  is  plain  to  be  seen  that  under  the  teachings  of  the  law 
of  Christ  that  the  Apostles  recognized  this  law,  for  it  is 
plain  that  they  had  all  things  in  common  and  they  that 
had  possessions  sold  them  and  great  fear  came  upon  them 
when  they  saw  how  far  from  God  they  had  strayed  and 
how  short  they  had  come  to  complying  with  this  great 
principle  of  the  common  law.  Again  in  the  4th  Chapter 
of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  the  32nd  verse,  we  notice 
that  they  held  all  things  in  common.  No  one  claimed  any- 
thing was  his  and  no  one  lacked,  but  all  had  plenty.  Again 
in  the  5th  Chapter  and  the  1st  verse  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles  we  notice  that  when  Ananias  and  his  wife  kept 
back  part  of  the  price  of  their  possessions  which  they  had 
sold,  they  were  condemned  to  death.  The  fact  is  that  there 
can  be  no  inequality  in  the  kingdom  of  God.  There  is  no 
individual  who  can  claim  an  inheritance  over  and  above  his 
brother. 

[49] 


THE    ORDER   OF   ZION 


Again  we  find  a  condition  that  prevailed  according  to 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  in  the  6th  Chapter  and  1st  to  5th 
verses,  where  they  complained  that  certain  widows  and 
orphans  were  not  being  cared  for  in  their  daily  ministra- 
tions, then  the  12  disciples  called  the  multitude  unto  them 
and  said  "It  is  not  reason  that  we  should  leave  the  Word  of 
God  and  serve  tables.  Wherefore,  brethren,  look  ye  out 
among  you  for  seven  men  of  honest  report  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  wisdom  whom  we  may  appoint  over  this  busi- 
ness, and  the  same  pleased  the  whole  multitude  and  after 
they  prayed  and  laid  their  hands  on  them  the  Word  of 
God  increased  and  the  number  of  disciples  multiplied  greatly. 

In  the  6th  Chapter  of  Mathew,  25th  to  34th  verses,  you 
will  notice  that  the  Master  is  speaking  about  the  beautiful 
order  which  will  exist  if  men  will  be  obedient  to  the 
Gospel  covenant  and  He  states  that  you  should  take  no 
thought  for  your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat  or  what  ye  shall 
drink,  nor  yet  for  your  body  what  ye  shall  put  on.  Is  not 
the  life  more  than  meat  and  the  body  than  raiment?  He 
points  out  to  the  fowls  of  the  air,  stating  that  they  sow  not 
neither  do  they  reap,  nor  gather  into  barns,  yet  your 
Heavenly  Father  feedeth  them  and  ye  are  much  better  than 
they.  He  also  asks  that  we  consider  the  lillies  of  the  field 
how  they  grow  they  toil  not  neither  do  they  spin  and  yet  I 
say  to  you  that  even  Solomon  in  his  glory  was  not  arrayed 
like  one  of  these.  Wherefore  if  God  so  clothed  the  creature 
of  the  field  and  the  grass  which  today  is  and  tomorrow  is 
cast  into  the  oven,  shall  He  not  much  more  clothe  you. 
Oh !  ye  of  little  faith.  It  is  very  plain  to  see  in  this  reference 
that  if  all  would  live  together  in  one  common  order  when 
there  would  be  none  in  Zion  that  would  exploit  their  breth- 
ren and  that  each  one  would  hold  in  obedience  to  the  two 
great  commands  and  especially  the  latter,  where  that  we 
are  to  live  and  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  that  the  law 
of  all  things  common  could  only  be  and  all  other  laws 
would  be  subdued,  because  of  this,  the  greater  law. 

In  Revelations,  the  2nd  Chapter  and  17th  verse,  the 
caution  is  made,  let  them  that  have  ears  hear  what  the 

[50] 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


spirit  saith  unto  the  churches.  To  him  that  overcometh 
shall  be  giiven  the  hidden  manna  and  the  beautiful  thought 
is  expressed  that  I  am  he  that  liveth  and  was  dead  and 
behold  I  am  alive  and  I  hold  the  keys  of  death  and  hell. 
The  beloved  disciple  is  asked  to  write  the  things  which  he 
has  seen  and  the  things  which  are  and  the  things  which 
shall  be  hereafter.  The  only  trouble  that  seems  to  be  with 
those  that  profess  Christianity  is  that  they  are  not  willing 
to  submit  to  that  humble  position  in  life  when  they  can 
esteem  their  neighbor  as  themselves  and  by  so  doing  they 
will  be  given  the  hidden  manna  which  conies  from  heaven 
and  all  things  may  be  common  among  them  in  accordance 
with  the  law  taught  by  Christ,  our  Lord. 

We  will  then  notice  that  when  Zion  is  established  and 
the  Gospel  law  of  Christ  is  perfected  that  death  shall  end. 
1st  Corinthians,  15th  Chapter  and  22nd  verse,  the  statement 
is  that  as  in  Adam  all  die,  in  Christ  all  will  be  made  alive, 
and  in  the  24th  verse  that  the  kingdom  will  be  delivered  up 
to  God,  so  He  will  be  all  in  all  and  death  must  end  in  Zion. 
The  Master  also  refers  to  this  matter  in  the  8th  Chapter 
of  Mathew,  34th  to  35th  verses,  that  those  who  will  lose 
their  life  shall  save  it  and  in  the  14th  Chapter  of  John,  6th 
and  7th  verses,  that  Christ  is  the  Way,  the  Truth  and  the 
Life.  In  the  20th  Chapter  of  John,  21st  verse,  the  promise 
is  made  unto  them  that  believe  that  they  might  have  life 
and  again  in  the  21st  Chapter  of  John  and  22nd  verse  the 
promise  is  made  to  John  that  he  might  tarry  until  He, 
Christ  would  come  again. 


[51] 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


CHAPTER  8 

|N  the  doctrine  of  Christ  we  find  that  it  is  necessary 
for  us  to  consider  things  which  he  taught.  Mark  11-22 
ohn  3-14-16,  John  6-40,  we  can  see  that  the  doctrine 
of  faith  is  plainly  taught,  and  without  faith  it  is  impossible 
to  please  God,  for  they  that  believe  in  Christ  must  believe 
that  He  is  and  that  He  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  dili- 
gently seek  Him. 

REPENTENCE:  In  Mark  1-14-15,  Luke  24-46-47,  we 
have  the  thought  of  repentance  definitely  stated.  It  is 
necessary  for  the  individual  to  repent  and  in  this  repentence 
it  must  be  to  the  extent  that  we  are  willing  to  submit  our- 
selves to  the  Gospel  law. 

BAPTISM:  Mathew  28-19-20,  John  3-5,  John  3-23,  is 
plainly  taught  the  doctrine  of  baptism,  and  it  is  necessary 
for  the  believer  to  be  baptized  by  immersion  in  order  that 
he  may  become  adopted  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 

LAYING-ON  OF  HANDS:  Luke  4-40,  James  5-14-15, 
Mark  16-17-18,  Mathew  19-13-15,  Acts  8-14-19,  Acts  19-1-7, 
Acts  13-1-3,  1st  Timothy  4-14.  In  this  we  can  notice  that 
the  laying-on  of  hands  is  for  various  purposes,  for  the  heal- 
ing of  the  sick,  for  the  blessing  of  children,  for  confirming 
of  members  that  they  may  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  for  ordination. 

RESURRECTION:  Isaiah  26-19,  John  5-25-29,  1st 
Corinthians  15-20-23.  It  cannot  be  disputed  by  referring  to 
the  resurrection  that  all  that  are  in  their  graves  will  come 
forth  in  the  resurrection  of  the  just  and  be  rewarded  in 
accordance  to  their  works,  but  we  must  remember  that 
they  that  do  not  have  on  the  robe  of  righteousness  will  be 
made  ashamed  in  that  day. 

SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST:  Mathew  16-27, 
Mathew  24-31,  is  outlined  the  thought  of  Christ's  return  to 

[52] 


THE   ORDER   OF   ZION 


the  earth  and  when  He  does  return,  He  will  come  with 
power  and  with  glory  and  all  they  that  are  prepared  shall 
rise  and  meet  Him  in  the  air  and  He  will  dwell  with  them 
upon  the  earth,  but  this  can  only  be  when  all  things  are 
held  in  common  among  his  people. 

SAINTS  SHALL  DWELL  ON  THE  EARTH: 
Mathew  5-5,  Revelations  5-9-10,  Isaiah  65-18-24,  is  sufficient 
to  show  that  the  earth  is  the  abode  of  all  men. 

ETERNAL  JUDGMENT:  John  5-22-30,  JOHN  12-47, 
1st  Corinthians  3-13,  Revelations  20-12,  1st  Corinthians  6- 
2-3.  With  these  quotations  the  earnest  investigator  can 
plainly  see  that  eternal  judgment  is  a  doctrine  under  the 
Christ  law  and  all  that  comply  with  His  law  will  be  made 
partakers  of  that  just  judgment  that  will  be  meted  out 
unto  the  true  and  faithful. 

FALSE  TEACHERS:  Micah  3-11,  John  10-11-14, 
Romans  10-1-3,  Second  Timothy  4-3-5,  Second  Peter  2-1-2. 
In  these  references  there  is  sufficient  warning  to  guard  the 
faithful  against  false  teachers  and  these  teachers  are  classed 
among  those  that  teach  for  hire  and  divine  for  money. 
There  is  no  one  who  has  a  right  to  set  himself  up  as  an 
idler  under  the  pretense  of  a  minister.  There  can  be  no 
idlers  in  Zion  and  all  must  earn  their  living  by  the  sweat 
of  their  brow.  No  one  has  a  right  to  claim  a  superior 
position  over  his  co-laborers. 

MINISTERS  MUST  BE  CALLED  OF  GOD:  He- 
brews 5-4-6,  Romans  10-14-15,  John  15-16,  Luke  10-12. 
There  is  no  one  who  can  minister  in  the  things  of  God 
except  that  he  be  called  and  can  bear  witness  that  Jesus  is 
the  Christ.  He  must  know  that  He  is  and  that  He  is  a 
rewarder  of  all  them  that  diligently  seek  Him. 

DOCTRINE  OF  CHRIST:  Mathew  7-28,  John  7-16-17, 
2nd  John  9-10,  is  plainly  outlined  that  no  one  has  a  right 
to  teach  any  other  than  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  for  who- 
soever transgresseth  and  abideth  not  in  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  hath  not  God. 

[53] 


THE    ORDER   OF   ZION 


WASHING  FEET:  John  13-14.  We  notice  that  the 
Master  makes  a  statement  if  I,  then  your  Lord  and  Master, 
have  washed  your  feet,  ye  also  ought  to  wash  one  another's 
feet,  for  I  have  given  you  an  example  that  ye  should  do  as 
I  have  done  to  you.  The  reason  this  is  no  longer  prac- 
ticed is  because  people  usually  adopt  that  form  of  religion 
that  is  easy  and  reject  that  part  that  is  not  suitable  to 
them.  In  Mark,  7th  Chapter  and  9th  verse,  our  Lord  makes 
the  statement  full  well  ye  reject  the  commandment  of  God 
that  ye  may  keep  your  own  tradition.  It  is  the  tradition 
and  precepts  of  men  that  bind  us  to  the  satanic  order  of 
things. 

LORD'S  SUPPER:  Luke  22-19,  shows  plainly  that  we 
should  also  partake  of  the  sacrament  and  in  this  it  is  an- 
other example  which  was  given  by  our  Lord. 

VISIONS:  Acts  2-17-18,  set  forth  the  thought  very 
plainly  and  it  is  well  for  us  to  understand  that  where  there 
is  no  vision  the  people  will  perish. 

ORGANIZATION:  The  organization  of  the  Christ 
Church.  In  this  we  find  that  there  are  various  officers 
outlined  and  especially  in  Acts  14-23,  Titus  1-5,  is  shown 
that  the  office  of  elder  is  the  highest  office  in  the  church 
and  from  the  elders  of  the  church  are  chosen  the  special 
witnesses  as  outlined  in  Mathew  10-1-4.  These  Apostles  are 
chosen  by  the  casting  of  lots,  also  notice  Acts  1-23-26.  In 
other  words  the  congregation  of  the  saints  chooses  by  vote 
12  men  who  are  to  act  as  a  Council  in  regulating  the  af- 
fairs of  the  Order  of  Zion.  Prophets  in  the  church  are 
provided  for.  See  Mathew  5-11-12,  Mathew  23-30-31,  Acts 
13-1-2,  Acts  2-17-18,  and  there  always  were  more  than  one 
prophet  in  the  church,  in  fact  the  Lord  may  use  anyone  He 
desires  as  a  prophet,  providing  the  individual  does  not  en- 
croach upon  the  laws  of  Christ  by  being  deceived  with  the 
wrong  spirit  or  wrong  impression,  but  there  is  no  one  who 
has  a  right  through  the  gift  of  prophecy  to  change  the 
order  or  law  of  Christ  as  set  forth  in  his  doctrine. 

f54] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


Acts  13-1  and  First  Corinthians  12-28,  refers  to  teachers. 
An  elder  is  a  teacher,  a  pastor.  He  also  can  act  as  an 
evangelist  and  may  be  especially  set  aside  for  evangelical 
work  by  choice  and  vote  of  the  body. 

Bishops  are  chosen  from  among  the  elders  by  vote  of 
the  people,  and  are  especially  appointed  by  the  church  for 
the  purpose  of  caring  for  and  looking  after  the  material 
needs  of  the  body.  1st  Timothy  3-1-4,  plainly  points  out 
how  that  there  were  bishops  in  the  Church  of  Christ  and 
they  should  be  chosen  by  the  body  and  ordained  by  the 
elders. 

The  deacons  Phil.  1-1,  especially  mentions  the  office 
of  deacon  and  it  is  necessary  that  deacons  be  chosen  by  the 
body  and  ordained  by  the  elders  to  look  after  the  church 
property,  care  for  the  local  congregation  and  assist  the 
Bishops,  but  they  have  no  right  to  act  as  pastors  or  teachers 
and  are  not  called  to  preach  or  baptize. 

Of  course,  there  has  been  quite  a  lot  of  talk  regarding 
high  priests  and  priests  in  the  church,  but  there  is  nothing 
definitely  outlined  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ  to  provide  for 
such  office,  but  these  references  no  doubt  are  made  pertain- 
ing to  the  elders  or  pastors,  as  Christ  Himself  was  re- 
ferred to  as  one  High  Priest.  The  great  trouble  in  establish- 
ing the  formality  in  appointing  various  officers  in  the 
church  simply  carries  out  the  desire  for  individuals  to  seek 
after  honor  and  place  and  in  this  the  work  of  God  shall 
be  put  to  an  open  shame.  There  is  no  one  who  can  claim 
an  inherited  right  to  any  office  in  the  church  of  Christ. 
Equality  can  only  come  in  the  Order  of  Zion  in  establish- 
ing all  things  in  common  and  this  can  only  be  when  all 
work  together  in  harmony  with  the  law  as  taught  by  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  and  till  God,  through  Christ,  our  Lord, 
shall  describe  a  change  in  the  church  work,  it  is  well  for 
all  the  faithful  to  remain  steadfast  so  that  no  confusion 
might  exist  among  them  and  to  this  we  ask  all  the  honest 
in  heart  to  unite  together  and  organize  in  a  body  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying  out  the  law  of  all  things  common  in 
action,  in  purpose,  in  thought  and  in  works. 

[55] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


A  VISION 

I  have  often  thought  of  a  vision  that  I  had  a  few 
years  ago  when  I  was  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  for  a  short  stay. 
One  evening  I  was  much  concerned  about  my  future  and 
the  many  trials  of  life's  way  and  somewhat  discouraged, 
especially  with  the  slow  progress  of  what  I  thought  in 
certain  reforms  and  was  given  to  much  thought  and  prayer. 
So,  one  night  I  retired  to  my  room  all  alone.  I  kneeled  and 
had  a  slient  prayer,  asking  for  light  and  understanding 
concerning  my  own  spiritual  welfare  as  well  as  God's  bless- 
ings upon  all  mankind. 

I  layed  down  to  rest  and  suddenly  awoke  when  there 
was  a  light  encircled  the  room  and  an  old  man  came  to 
me,  he  seemed  tired  and  weary,  but  was  firm  and  de- 
termined. He  asked  me  to  come  with  him.  We  started  on  a 
journey  through  an  open  field  and  continued  until  we 
came  to  a  tract  of  woods.  This  was  a  very  thick  forest  and 
as  we  entered  in  we  came  in  contact  with  thick  brush, 
briars,  grapevines  and  it  was  a  very  hard  task  to  get 
through,  we  continued  down  a  rugged  hill,  over  rocks  and 
boulders  until  we  came  to  a  ravine,  then  the  task  of  climb- 
ing up  began  on  the  other  side.  The  briars  were  such  that 
they  tore  our  clothing  and  even  pricked  the  flesh.  We 
finally  came  to  the  top  of  the  hill  into  an  open  space,  and 
at  a  distance  we  saw  a  large  temple  surrounded  by  a  num- 
ber of  small  houses.  It  appeared  that  we  were  going  to 
a  conference  and  as  we  came  to  the  large  stone  building 
we  entered.  It  seemed  that  the  place  would  hold  5,000 
people.  The  old  man  walked  up  to  the  pulpit  and  I  stopped 
about  half  way  and  took  my  seat.  There  seemed  to  be 
only  about  twelve  men  present,  and  they  seemed  to  be 
very  little  concerned  about  the  meeting.  It  seemed  that  a 
little  business  was  transacted  and  we  adjourned ;  as  we 
walked  out  no  one  seemed  to  pay  any  attention  to  us  except 
one  man  that  lingered  near  the  door.  When  we  came  up 
to  him  he  asked  us  if  we  would  go  with  him  for  dinner. 
The  old  man  accepted  the  invitation  and  the  man  walked  off 

[561 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


from  us.  I  asked  why  there  was  such  a  large  building  and 
only  such  few  people  to  attend.  He  answered  and  said, 
"Brother  Zahnd,  at  one  time  this  buildiing  would  not  hold 
them,  many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen." 

It  was  only  a  few  minutes,  it  seems,  after  having  the 
above  vision  when  I  again  was  encircled  by  a  light  and 
again  came  in  presence  of  three  other  brothers,  then  mis- 
sionaries and  as  they  are  all  in  the  work  at  present,  I  will 
not  give  their  names,  one  I  had  met  at  the  time,  two  I  met 
later,  and  they  appeared  to  me  just  as  I  have  known  them 
ever  since.  We  started  on  a  journey  and  came  to  a  steep 
hill.  It  seemed  to  be  of  soft  dirt  and  sand  with  very  little 
shrubbery,  a  few  shumach  brush.  We  started  to  climb  and 
it  seemed  a  very  difficult  task  as  the  hill  was  very  steep 
and  as  we  would  climb  a  short  way  our  holds  would 
break  and  we  would  slide  back.  We  finally  got  to  the  top 
very  weary  and  tired  and  much  discouraged  because  of  the 
task.  We  looked  a  short  distance  ahead  of  us  and  we  saw 
a  beautiful  white  building,  being  snow  white  and  clean, 
around  this  small  temple  were  several  snow  white  houses. 
We  started  to  them,  but  one  of  the  brethren  turned  and 
walked  away.  He  hung  his  head  and  seemed  to  want  to 
return  to  the  world.  In  a  short  time  he  was  lost  to  our 
view.  With  the  other  two  brethren  we  proceeded  to  the 
small  temple  and  as  we  approached  we  heard  the  sweetest 
music  I  had  ever  heard  and  as  we  entered  in  I  saw  a  band 
of  twelve  musicians  dressed  in  snow  white  and  the  joy  I 
felt  when  they  rendered  such  sweet  music  it  seemed  to 
anchor  my  soul  to  the  haven  of  rest.  I  then  asked  why 
the  other  brother  did  not  enter  in  with  us  and  a  heavenly 
messenger  seemed  to  say  to  me,  "Many  are  called,  but  few 
are  chosen." 

I  often  wondered  about  this  vision  and  since  have  seen 
many  things  happen  to  show  me  the  fulfilment  of  the  same. 
One  thing  I  was  given  to  know  that  the  church  was  true, 
but  that  we  must  be  aware  of  the  leadershiip  of  men.  Two 
of  the  brethren  are  High  Priests  and  one  of  them  a  Seventy, 
but  because  of  one  of  them  falling  away  I  refrain  from 

[57] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


giving  the  names  at  this  time.  I,  however,  believe  I  will 
see  many  things  yet  to  fulfill  the  vision.  I  believe  there 
will  be  a  falling  away  and  have  seen  men  fall  since,  that 
were  counted  strong  in  the  faith. 

I  only  trust  that  this  will  be  a  warning  to  others,  for 
as  sure  as  we  exist  on  this  sphere  we  will  yet  see  things 
happen  that  will  cause  even  those  that  think  they  stand,  to 
waiver,  and  if  not  earnest  and  prayerful  they  will  be  en- 
trapped in  the  snares  set  up  to  deceive  God's  people.  God 
has  designed  that  His  law  must  be  kept  and  we  read  in 
John  5-3:  "This  is  the  love  of  God  that  we  keep  his 
commandments."  We  may  think  that  we  are  sure  of  our 
way,  but  remember  there  is  a  way  that  seemeth  right  unto 
man,  but  the  way  thereof  is  the  way  of  death. 

The  financial  law  must  be  kept  and  unless  a  deeper  con- 
secration is  given  on  the  part  of  those  that  plying  the 
ways  of  the  world  in  riotous  and  luxurious  living,  and  the 
poor  of  God's  people  continue  to  suffer  because  of  the  acts 
of  the  others  we  will  find  ourselves  in  a  position  to  regret 
our  past  lives.  I  wish  that  I  could  impress  upon  all  the 
grandeur  of  the  Gospel  law  and  its  promises  to  all  that 
obey  and  keep  his  commandments.  Jesus  Christ  came  into 
this  world  not  to  be  mocked,  not  to  be  scorned,  but  that  He 
might  be  a  light  unto  all  that  would  obey  and  walk  in  the 
light  as  He  is  in  the  light. 

When  John  was  in  prison  and  sent  to  Jesus  to  know 
if  he  was  that  one  that  was  to  come  or  if  they  should 
look  for  another.  The  answer  was  sent,  "Go  tell  John  what 
ye  do  see  and  hear,  the  blind  are  made  to  see,  the  lame  are 
made  to  walk ;  the  deaf  are  made  to  hear ;  the  dead  are  railed 
up,  and  the  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  unto  them." 

We  have  about  80,000  membership  and  only  about  308 
out  doing  missionary  work.  Surely  this  would  not  be  if 
the  work  was  sustained  as  it  should  be,  but  we  can  have  no 
change  in  this  until  confidence  is  restored,  and  confidence  can 
only  be  restored  when  those  that  lead  give  the  right  ex- 
ample in  life. 

O,  that  man  could  only  see  that  the  little  that  is  called 

[58] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


enjoyment  in  this  life  is  as  nothing  compared  to  what  can 
be  when  the  change  does  and  must  come.  Remember  the 
words  of  Jesus,  "Come  unto  me  all  that  labor  and  are  heavy 
laden,  take  my  yoke  upon  you,  my  yoke  is  easy  and  my 
burden  is  light." 

JOHN   ZAHND. 

LETTER  OF  RESIGNATION 
By  Elder  John  Zahnd. 

Elder  Frederick  M.  Smith,  Sept.  4th,   1918. 

Independence,  Mo  . 
Dear  Sir: 

As  President  of  the  Re-organized  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  of  Latter  Day  Saints,  I  hereby  wish  to  notify  you 
of  my  withdrawal  from  the  Church  organization  which  you 
preside  over.  As  Elder  and  member  of  said  church  I  can 
no  longer  hold  to  the  views  which  are  being  taught  under 
your  leadership,  as  I  believe  there  has  been  a  departure 
from  the  true  Christ  Church  to  such  an  extent  that  all  honest 
and  God-loving  people  must  protest  against  it. 

1st.  I  believe  that  your  grandfather,  Joseph  Smith, 
transgressed  especially  about  the  year  1842,  in  setting  up  an 
order  of  things  which  you  seem  to  be  taking  up  at  this  time, 
and  when  Signey  Rigdon,  who  was  then  his  Counselor, 
protested,  he  sought  to  discredit  him,  but  owing  to  the 
justice  of  the  people  they  would  not  see  him  humiliated 
and  refused  at  conference  to  set  him  aside.  It  is  plain  that 
Nancy  Rigdon  made  the  statement  that  he  was  a  different 
man  after  this  date. 

2nd.  It  is  also  evident  that  Joseph  Smith,  the  1st, 
did  appoint  J.  J.  Strang,  as  his  successor,  which  letter  is 
positive  and  cannot  be  denied  and  is  also  acknowledged  by 
the  Reorganization  in  3rd  Volume  of  Church  History. 

3rd.  Your  Father,  Joseph  Smith,  had  no  more  right 
to  preside  over  the  church  than  any  other  elder  in  it.  He 
was  ordained  by  men  who  apostatized  from  the  Strang 
Church  and  in  this  it  is  plain  to  see  that  while  I  believe  he 
did  a  good  work,  yet  he  had  no  right,  as  a  leader  in  said 
church. 

[591 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


4th.  The  order  of  choosing  the  apostles  in  the  Re- 
organized Church  according  to  the  3rd  Volume  of  Church 
History,  was  by  the  conference  appointing  a  committee  and 
they  made  the  selections  which  were  afterwards  ratified  by 
the  conference.  This  procedure  was  also  carried  out  after 
your  Father  became  President  of  the  Church.  If  that  was 
the  right  way,  then,  why  is  it  the  wrong  way  now?  It  seems 
that  the  necessity  of  choosing  by  revelation  was  a  change  of 
mind  in  latter  years. 

5th.  Regarding  the  R.  C.  Evans  matter  in  1908,  accord- 
/>  ing  to  G.  T.  Griffith,  who  now  is  President  of  the  12,  he 
stated  that  the  12  at  that  time  refused  to  sustain  R.  C. 
Evans  and  stated  that  it  was  because  of  such  acts,  which 
were  too  low  to  be  brought  before  the  public,  yet  in  1909, 
your  Father  sees  fit  to  bring  forth  a  pretended  revelation 
releasing  him  and  in  this  revelation  it  is  stated  he  was  faith- 
ful and  his  reward  was  sure.  About  two  days  later  your 
Father  placed  his  name  before  the  conference  to  be  or- 
dained a  Bishop  and  the  statement  was  made  by  your 
Father,  also  by  your  brother.  Hale  Smith,  that  they  wit- 
nessed  an  angel  that  came  and  ordained  Mr.  Evans.  It 
seems  very  strange  that  an  individual  who  was  so  unfit  and 
had  done  such  things  which  were  so  unbecoming  a  man, 
should  receive  such  a  revelation  and  then  be  ordained  at  the 
hands  of  an  angel.  There  is  something  wrong  either  with 
the  presidency  of  the  church,  or  with  Mr.  Evans,  or  with 
the  12.  It  seems  that  none  of  your  body,  agree,  which  is 
very  much  beneath  the  dignity  of  men  holding  such  a  high 
and  responsible  position. 

6th.  There  are  also  so  many  strange  things  in  the 
Book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants,  which  make  it  so  uncer- 
tain, especially  Par.  6,  Sec.  64,  Par.  5,  Sec.  100,  Par.  1, 
Sec.  101,  Par.  5-8,  Sec.  102,  and  on  down  since  the  revela- 
tions which  have  been  claimed  by  the  reorganization  and 
also  show  to  the  light  that  first  the  Book  of  Command- 
ments was  written,  afterwards  the  old  edition  of  the  Book 
of  Covenants  and  later  on  a  new  edition  which  makes  it 

[60] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


hard  to  know  what  would  be  or  what  would  not  be  law.  It 
seems  that  there  is  no  agreement  which  can  be  depended 
upon. 

7th.  Again  I  believe  that  the  new  rule  pertaining  to 
stakes  is  contrary  to  good  reason  and  common  sense.  In  a 
later  revelation  we  find  that  when  the  Lamoni  Stake  and 
Independence  Stakes  were  organized  that  the  Lord  stated 
that  He  would  command  when  a  change  should  be  made, 
but  you  seem  to  find  it  necessary  to  make  this  change  with- 
out any  revelation  which  makes  you  or  your  Father  wrong  in 
the  matter  and  I  do  not  believe  the  Lord  is  as  changeable 
as  you  seem  to  make  Him.  Then  again  you  do  away  with 
branch  organizations  which  is  absolutely  contrary  to  former 
revelations  in  the  same  Book  of  Covenants. 

8th.  Again  I  cannot  believe  that  the  church  should  \  . 
sanction  the  liquor  business.  For  a  long  while  'elfleTS  ot  X 
the  Re-organized  Church  complained  arid  made  quite  a  little 
capital  from  the  fact  that  the  Utah  Morman  Church  was 
selling  liquor  and  that  no  protest  was  being  made,  but  since 
Mr.  Robinson  has  been  President  of  the  Baltimore  Hotel  in 
Kansas  Citiy,  and  while  he  held  an  elder's  license  he  has 
continued  in  the  saloon  business  without  any  interruption 
on  the  part  of  the  branch  officers  or  the  quorum  of  12  and 
sanctioned  by  your  silence.  Yet  when  some  poor  individual 
is  overtaken  by  drink  he  is  taken  to  task  and  cut  off  from 
the  church.  It  is  indeed  too  bad  to  think  that  men  would 
become  so  far  short-sighted  in  meting  out  justice. 

9th.  When  I  united  with  the  Church  it  was  plainly 
stated  and  taught  by  the  re-organization  that  there  was  no 
other  authoritative  church  upon  the  earth  and  that  all 
churches  were  wrong  and  that  no  one  can  be  saved  in  the 
celestial  glory,  except  those  that  would  unite  with  the  re- 
organization. This  you  have  proved  untrue  by  your  own 
action,  for  at  the  April  conference  at  Independence,  Mo., 
in  1918,  a  resolution  was  passed  wherein  it  was  plainly  stated 
that  the  Hedrikite  Church  had  a  right  of  Church  extension 
and  that  the  priesthood  in  that  church  also  had  a  right  to 
administer  in  the  ordinance  of  the  Gospel,  and  that  members 

[61] 


- 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


of  the  reorganization  could  go  to  the  said  Church  of  Christ 
on  their  original  baptism.  The  Re-organized  Church  also  has 
taken  the  stand  that  members  of  the  J.  J.  Strang  faction 
can  be  taken  over  priesthood  and  all  without  re-baptism; 
according  to  this  then  there  must  be  3  authoritative  churches 
on  earth  today. 

10th.  Finally  it  is  not  my  desire  to  condemn  you  or 
any  people  who  may  continue  in  the  organization  under 
your  leadership,  because  I  believe  there  are  many  honest 
and  sincere  members  who  are  misguided  in  believing  that 
you  have  an  inherited  right  to  preside  over  them,  which  I 
do  not  believe.  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  law  for  a  first 
presidency  and  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  any  preference 
with  our  Heavenly  Father  and  to  this  end  I  would  invite 
you  to  carefully  study  the  new  book  which  I  have  written 
recently,  entitled  "The  Order  of  Zion,"  as  I  expect  to  con- 
tinue to  preach  the  Gospel  and  to  do  all  I  can  in  appealing 
to  the  honest  in  heart  to  organize  and  assemble  themselves 
together  under  the  law  of  Christ  and  separate  themselves 
from  all  false  teachings  and  errors  that  may  have  been 
brought  about  by  men  in  formulating  religious  ideas  and 
notions  of  their  own. 

With  these  words  I  bid  you  farewell. 

JOHN  ZAHND. 

Sept.  10,  1918. 
Saints  Herald, 
Lamoni,  Iowa, 
Dear  Sirs: 

Your  letter  of  the  6th  received  and  I  expected  that  you 
would  not  print  my  reasons  for  withdrawing  from  the 
Church.  Your  boast  of  long  ago  of  a  free  pulpit  and  a  free 
press  is  only  one  of  your  many  deceptions  you  are  afraid 
of  the  truth.  You  are  afraid  to  let  men  show  you  up  in 
your  true  colors.  Why  are  you  afraid?  You  claim  that 
nothing  can  hurt  the  truth.  Why  close  your  pulpit  and 
press  ? 

162] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


You  say  you  feel  sorry  for  me  but  not  from  your  heart 
out  I  fear,  you  say  you  knew  for  some  time  that  I  was  not 
well  grounded  in  the  faith,  who  was  your  spy?  This  as- 
sertion is  false  no  man  worked  harder  for  the  church  than 
I  have,  I  know  this  so  do  others  know  it. 

Of  course  I  have  not  had  my  fingers  on  the  pie  counter, 
I  have  not  as  an  Elder  used  my  religion  to  make  an  easy 
living  like  many  do,  I  have  truly  warned  the  honest  in- 
vestigator to  not  put  their  trust  in  man.  I  have  not  ridden 
around  in  automobiles  and  drew  my  living  from  the  poor 
people. 

Such  disgraceful  things  like  the  murder  at  the  Balti- 
more Hotel  in  Kansas  City,  Sunday  where  Elder  W.  N. 
Robinson  is  running  a  saloon  and  protected  by  the  officers 
in  the  Church.  I  have  nothing  to  do  with,neither  has  God 
had  anything  to  do  with,  even  if  the  Branch,  Stake,  and 
general  officers  have  allowed  this  man  to  go  without  bring- 
ing to  question  his  conduct.  No  when  these  matters  men 
put  to  them  they  winked  at  it. 

No  do  not  pity  me  I  am  grounded  very  deep  in  the 
Gospel  of  our  Lord  and  Master  and  even  though  you  hold 
a  closed  press  and  a  closed  pulpit  the  light  will  be  known. 
The  Gospel  will  prevail  and  Zion  will  yet  shine  out  in  all 
its  glory. 

Sincerely, 

JOHN  ZAHND. 

Kansas  City,  Mo.,  Sept.   16,   1918. 
Elder  J.  A.  Tanner, 
President  of  the  Kansas  City  Stake, 
of  the  Reorganized  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
of  Latter-Day  Saints. 
Dear  Brother: 

No  doubt  I  owe  you  a  letter  in  regard  to  my  action  in 
no  longer  accepting  the  claims  of  F.  M.  Smith,  as  President 
of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  as  misunderstandings  come 
and  representations  are  made,  I  wish  that  all  may  under- 
stand that  I  have  not  rejected  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  in 

[63] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


any  way.  I  believe  in  the  restored  Gospel  and  believe  that 
Zion  will  be  redeemed  only  on  terms  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ. 

All  the  "Carnage  and  Bloodshed,"  as  is  given  in  the 
Old  Testament  scriptures  and  in  the  Book  of  Mormon  was 
the  result  of  aspiring  men  and  whenever  the  law  of  God 
was  departed  from  in  any  age  the  result  was  confusion, 
distrust  and  sorrow.  The  lav*  of  "all  things  in  common" 
was  and  is  the  only  law  that  God  or  Christ  taught  and 
from  the  Garden  of  Eden  to  the  present  time  all  the  trouble 
comes  from  a  separation  from  that  law. 

Men  have  designed  and  aspired  to  lead  and  have  al- 
ways carried  out  extreme  desires  to  bring  about  their  aims 
at  the  cost  of  the  poor  and  downtrodden.  I  will  give  you  my 
reasons  for  taking  the  stand  I  did  in  my  letter  to  F.  M. 
Smith  of  Sept.  4th,  1918,  so  th?t  I  may  be  rightfully  repre- 
sented. 

1st.  I  believe  that  Joseph  Smith  transgressed  the  law 
of  God  and  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  practiced  polyg- 
amy and  the  secret  wife  system.  You,  yourself,  admitted 
last  Tuesday  that  things  went  wrong  as  early  as  1839.  He 
did  fellowship  and  became  a  member  of  a  secret  society 
contrary  to  the  inspired  scriptures  and  Book  of  Mormon. 
He  also  did  aspire  to  the  Presidency  of  the  U.  S.  A.  and 
sought  to  place  himself  in  supreme  power. 

2nd.  He  did  appoint  J.  J  Strang,  as  his  successor,  and 
the  letter  was  written,  signed,  sealed  and  mailed  a  few 
days  before  his  death.  J.  J.  Strang  did  have  the  following 
of  many  of  the  then  leading  men  of_the  Church,  who  left 
him  when  he  followed  out  t'.4e  same  course  in  practicing 
polygamy  and  aspiring  to  be  a  king.  AjjpJTl  Wi1ljam,  Smitf1,  A 
brother  of  Joseph  Smith,  fir^l  followed  Brigham  Young,  \ 
then  apostatized  and  joined  Strang  and  then  apostatized 
and  set  up  an  organization  of  his  own  and  put  out  a  pre- 
tended revelation  that  he  should  rule  until  Christ  came, 
then  this  apostate  was  received  by  the  reorganization  on  his 
original  baptism  and  was  allowed  to  maintain  his  priest- 
hood. What  priesthood?  He  had  so  many,  it  is  hard  to 
tell. 

C64] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


3rd.  Young  Joseph  was  not  called  of  God  to  preside 
over  the  Church.  In  fact  the  Twelve  Apostles  were  by 
right  chosen  to  preside  in  the  beginning  and  as  per  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  are  chosen  by  casting  lots  and  selected 
from  among  the  Elders,  and  the  whole  trouble  came  from 
Joseph  Smith  aspiring  to  a  king,  a  ruler  followed  by  Brig- 
ham  Young,  J.  J.  Strang,  Sidney  Rigdon,  Young  Joseph, 
Thompson,  Hedrick,  William  Smith,  and  many  others,  all 
claimed  divine  calls.  Who  was  false?  Perhaps  all  of  them, 
including  F  .M.  Smith.  There  is  no  place  in  the  restored 
Gospel  for  kings,  rulers,  dictators  or  autocrats;  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  teaches  freedom. 

4th.  Regarding  the  R.  C  Evans  Revelation  in  setting 
him  aside  after  the  Twelve  had  rejected  him  only  shows 
what  one  man  power  can  lead  us  to.  No  one  only  a  knave 
or  fool  can  consistently  align  himself  with  such  conditions 
and  allow  himself  to  submit  to  such  fraud.  You  admitted, 
yourself,  that  the  Evans  matter  was  just  as  I  stated.  G.  T. 
Griffith  and  R.  C.  Russell  also  admitted  it.  Why  then 
continue  in  such  affairs?  Have  the  people  no  fear  of  the 
wrath  of  a  just  God? 

5th.  Again  who  can  say  what  is  law  in  regard  to  the 
doctrine  and  covenants?  First  we  have  the  Book  of  Com- 
mandments, then  the  D.  C.  1835  edition,  then  the  Utah 
edition,  then  the  J.  J.  Strang  Book  of  the  Law,  then  the 
Lamoni  edition  and  others,  yet  no  one  knows  just  what  is 
right  and  the  Reorganized  Church  history  is  in  doubt.  We 
better  stand  by  ihe  doctrine  of  Christ  until  the  one  mighty 
and  strong  shall  set  us  right  which  I  think  will  be  revealed 
in  Christ." 

6th.  You  admitted  that  the  action  of  the  1918  Con- 
ference would  likely  get  us  into  trouble  by  F.  M.  taking 
the  stand  that  there  was  priesthood  in  all  factions.  We 
quote  this  Conference  action  as  follows: 

THE   SAINTS    HERALD    FOR  APRIL    17,    1918. 

The  following  document,  momentous  in  its  character, 
and  which  had  previously  been  adopted  by  the  Church  of 
Christ,  was  presented  and  adopted  by  a  practically  unani- 
mous vote. 

[65] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


We  most  respectfully  submit  the  following  articles  of 
agreement  adopted  by  the  joint  committee  ,and  recommend 
that  they  be  adopted  as  the  working  basis  of  harmony  be- 
tween the  two  organizations: 

AGREEMENTS  OF  WORKING  HARMONY. 

1.  Agreed,   that  we  believe   in   the   restoration   oi    the 
gospel,  and  the  angel's  message  through  Joseph  the  Seer. 

2.  Agreed,  that  so  far  as  rhe  fundamental  principles  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ  are  concerned,  both  organizations  be- 
lieve the  same,  as  per  copies  of  the  epitome  attached. 

3.  Agreed,  that  the  Book  of  Mormon  is  a  divine  record, 
and  the  redemption   of  Zion   must  be  by  purchase. 

4.  Agreed,   ihat   we   indorse   the  revelations   contained 
in  the   1835  edition  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants. 

5.  Agreed,  that  we  indorse  the  revelation  found  in  the 
letter  from  Joseph  Smith,  the  Seer,  to  W.  W.  Phelps  con- 
cerning the  "one  mighty  and  strong,"  dated   November  27, 
1832. 

6.  Agreed,   that  we   indorse   the   articles   on    Marriage 
and  of  Governments  and  Laws  in  General,  in  the  1835  edition 
of  Doctrine  and  Covenants. 

7.  Agreed,  that  we  believe  that  there  are  individuals  in 
the   different  factions  who  hold   the  priesthood. 

8.  Agreed,  that  where  th«re  are  six  or  more  regularly 
baptized  membeis,  any  one  of  which  is  an  elder,  there  the 
Church  exists. 

9.  Agreed,  that  an  organization   is  necessary  and  such 
an   organization   as   the   number  of   members,   and   the   will 
of  God  enables  them  to  attain  to. 

10.  Agreed,  that  wherever  a  branch  exists  the  power 
of  church   extension   exists  also  to  its   fullest  extent,   when 
acting  in  harmony  with  the  law 

11.  Agreed,  that  any  man  holding  the  priesthood,  and 
possessing  the  proper  qualifications,  may  be  chosen  by  the 
church,  by  acting  in  accordant  c  with  the  law  to  act  in  any 
specific   position. 

[661 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


12.  Agreed,   that  faith  and  righteousness  and  the  call 
of  God   are   the  chief  essentials   for  the   possession   of   the 
Melchisedec  priesihood. 

13.  Agreed,  that  in  the  opinion  of  this  council,  in  order 
to  accomplish  the  work  of  the  Lord  committed  to  his  people, 
it   is   necessary   7 or   them   to   unite   in   one  organization,    in 
harmony  with  the  law  of  God. 

14.  Agreed,    ,that    the    city    of    Zion    will    be    built   at 
Independence,    Missouri,    and    that   the    Saints    of    God   will 
gather  there. 

15.  Agreed,  that  the  principle  of  consecration  is  neces- 
sary to  the  establishment  of  Aion. 

16.  Agreed    that  the  law    ~>f  Christ  requires  that  every 
man  be   made  a   steward,   and  that  none  are  exempt  from 
this    law    who    belong    to    the    church    of    the    living    God, 
whether  officer  v  r  member,  and  that  all   shall  be  equal   in 
temporal    things,   and   that   not   grudgingly,   in   order   to   be 

^united  according  to  the  law  of  the  celestial  kingdom;  and 
/  that  the  time  ha?  fully  come  to  apply  this  law  in  Zion ;  and 
,   that   we  will   labor   together  to   see   that   it   is   enforced   as 
soon   as   possible. 

17.  Agreed,    that   we   believe    in    the    literal    gathering 
of  Israel,  and  the  restoration  of  the  "Ten  Lost  Tribes." 

18.  Agreed,  that  Christ  Avill  reign  personally  upon  the 
earth,  and  +he  earth  will  be  restored  to  its  paradisical  glory. 

19.  Agreed,  that  the  question  of  who  the  one  "mighty 
and    strong''    is,    whether   Christ    or   man,    be   left   an    open 
question   until  further  revelation  from   God  shall   definitely 
determine  who  it  is. 

20.  Agreed,  that  the  doctrine  of  baptism  for  the  dead 
(by  proxy)  be  not  taught  as  a  part  of  the  faith  and  doctrine 
of  the  Church,  unless  commanded  by  a  revelation  accepted 
by  the  church. 

21.  Agreed,  that  what  is  known  as  the  "King  Follet 
Sermon"  and  the  book  of  Abraham  be  not  accepted  as  the 
basis  for  doctrine. 

22.  Agreed,  that  the  branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
on    the    Temple    Lot,    which    was    presided   over    by    Elder 

[671 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


Granville  Hedrick  and  his  successors,  shall  be  continued  and 
that  no  change  be  made  in  the  custody  of  the  Temple  Lot. 

23.  Agreed,   that  all   other  minor  points   of  difference 
in  belief  and  practice,  that  mny  exist  between  the  officers 
and  members  of  the  two  organizations,  be  left  to  the  elders 
for  settlement  as  they  assemble  in  council  from  time  to  time. 

24.  Agreed,   that  whereas   the   Church   of   Christ,   and 
the    Reorganized    Church    of    Jesus    Christ    of    Latter    Day 
Saints  consist  of  members  who  h'ave  been  baptized  by  men 
holding  authority  conferred  bv  ordination  under  the   hands 
of  the  servants  of  God,  called  during  the  ministry  of  Joseph 
Smith,  who  hav?  remained  true  to  the  original  faith  of  the 
Church,    organized    April    6,    1830,    and,    whereas,    both    or- 
ganizations  stand   for   and   maintain   the   same   fundamental 
doctrine  and  practice,  and  have  the  same  purpose  and  ideal 
in    their    church    government    and    work ;    therefore    be    it 
mutually   agreed,   that   each   recognize   the   standing   of   the 
other  as  representing  Christ,  the  Master,  and  the  priesthood 
of  each  as  legally  constituted,    and    the    administration    of 
each  as  equally  binding  before  God,  when  done  in  accord- 
ance  with   the   law. 

Resolved,  th?t  these  articles  of  agreement  be  submitted 
to  the  General  Conferences  of  both  organizations,  which 
are  to  be  held  April  6,  1918,  at  Independence,  Missouri,  for 
approval  as  the  working  basis  of  harmony  between  the 
Church  of  Christ  ,and  the  Reorganized  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Latter  Day  Saints. 

FREDERICK  M.   SMITH,  Chairman. 

WALTER  W.  SMITH,  Secretary. 

For  the  Committee. 

7th.  T  plead  with  you  t^  come  out  from  among  such 
conditions  also  plead  with  all  honest  and  God-loving  people 
to  do  the  same.  I  cannot  comply  with  your  wishes  in  giv- 
ing up  my  license.  I  have  left  nothing  that  is  good.  I  still 
accept  the  Gospel  of  Christ  in  its  fullness  as  far  as  I  can 
understand  it  and  until  I  receive  added  light,  I  must  stand 

f68] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


just  where  I  am.  I  received  my  priesthood  from  God  and 
no  man  can  take  it  from  me.  The  principles  of  the  Gospel 
are  true  and  that  is  why  I  believe  that  Zion  will  be  re- 
deemed and  the  honest  in  heart  will  yet  know  and  accept 
the  fullness  of  the  Gospel,  by  having  all  things  in  common 
among  them  as  per  the  4th  Chapter  of  the  Acts. 
In  the  cause  of  Christ  I  ctm,  as  ever, 

JOHN   ZAHND. 

HAVE  THE  REORGANIZED  AUTHORITY  AS  THEY 
CLAIM  TO  HAVE? 

I  give  here  some  facts  which  should  have  careful  con- 
sideration by  the  honest  investigator.  First  I  quote  the  J 
J.  Strang  letter  in  full,  as  follows: 

THE  APPOINTMENT  OF  SUCCESSOR  AND  PLACE 

OF  REFUGE 
Letter  of  Joseph  Smith  to  James  J.  Strang. 

Nauvoo,  June   18,   1844. 

My  Dear  Son : — Your  epistle  of  May  24th,  proposing 
the  planting  a  Stake  of  Zion  in  Wisconsin,  and  the  gath- 
ering of  the  Saints  there,  was  duly  received,  and  I,  with 
most  of  the  brethren  whose  advice  I  called  in,  were  of 
opinion  that  you  was  deceived  by  a  spirit  not  of  this 
world,  great  but  not  good.  Brother  Hyrum,  however, 
thought  otherwise,  and  favored  the  project,  not  doubting 
it  was  of  God.  I,  however,  determined  to  return  you  an 
unfavorable  answer  for  the  present.  But,  Oh !  the  little- 
ness of  man  in  his  best  earthly  state!  Not  so  the  will  of 
the  Almighty.  God  hath  ruled  it  otherwise,  and  a  message 
from  the  throne  of  grace  directed  me  as  it  hath  inspired 
you,  and  the  faith  which  thou  hast  in  the  Shepherd,  the 
Stone  of  Israel,  hath  been  repaid  to  thee  a  thousand  fold, 
and  thou  shalt  be  like  unto  him;  but  the  flock  shall  find 

[69] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


rest  with  thee,  and  God  shall  reveal  to  thee  His  will  con- 
cerning them. 

I  have  long  felt  that  my  present  work  was  almost  done, 
and  that  I  should  soon  be  called  to  rule  a  mighty  host,  but 
something  whispers  me  it  will  be  in  the  land  of  spirits, 
where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling  and  the  bands  of 
the  prisoner  fall  off.  My  heart  yearns  for  my  little  ones, 
but  I  know  God  will  be  a  father  to  them  and  I  can  claim 
face  to  face  the  fulfillment  of  promises  from  him  who  is  a 
covenant-keeping  God,  and  who  sweareth  and  performeth 
and  faileth  not  to  the  uttermost. 

The  wolves  are  upon  the  scent,  and  I  am  waiting  to 
be  offered  up,  if  such  be  the  will  of  God,  knowing  that 
though  my  visage  be  more  marred  than  that  of  any,  it  will 
be  unscarred  and  fair  when  archangels  shall  place  on  my 
brow  the  double  crown  of  martyr  and  king  in  a  heavenly 
world. 

In  the  midst  of  darkness  and  boding  danger,  the  spirit 
of  Elijah  came  upon  me,  and  I  went  away  to  inquire  of  God 
how  the  Church  should  be  saved. 

I  was  upon  the  hill  of  the  Temple.  The  calm  father  of 
waters  rolled  below,  changeless  and  eternal.  I  beheld  a 
light  in  the  heavens  above,  and  streams  of  bright  light 
illuminated  the  firmament,  varied  and  beautiful  as  the  rain- 
bow, gentle,  yet  rapid  as  the  fierce  lightning. 

The  Almighty  came  from  his  throne  of  rest.  He 
clothed  himself  with  light  as  with  a  garment.  He  appear- 
ed, and  moon  and  stars  went  out.  The  earth  dissolved  in 
space.  I  trod  on  air  and  was  borne  on  wings  of  Cherubims. 
The  sweetest  strains  of  heavenly  music  thrilled  in  my  ear, 
but  the  notes  were  low  and  sad  as  though  they  sounded 
the  requiem  of  martyred  prophets. 

I  bowed  my  head  to  the  earth  and  asked  only  wisdom 
and  strength  for  the  Church.  The  voice  of  God  answered, 
My  servant  Joseph,  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  many 
things  and  thy  reward  is  glorious ;  the  crown  and  sceptre 
are  thine,  and  they  wait  thee.  But  thou  hast  sinned  in 
some  things,  and  thy  punishment  is  very  bitter.  The 

170] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


whirlwind  goeth  before,  and  its  clouds  are  dark,  but  rest 
followeth.  and  Iro  its  days  there  shall  be  no  end.  Study 
the  words  of  the  vision  for  it  tarrieth  not. 

And  now  behold  my  servant  James  J.  Strang  hath 
come  to  thee  from  far  for  truth  when  he  knew  it  not,  and 
hath  not  rejected  it,  but  had  faith  in  thee,  the  Shepherd 
and  Stone  of  Israel,  and  to  him  shall  the  gathering  of 
the  people  be,  for  he  shall  plant  a  stake  of  Zion  in  Wis- 
consin, and  I  will  establish  it;  and  there  shall  my  people 
have  peace  and  rest  and  shall  not  be  moved,  for  it  shall 
be  established  on  the  prairie  on  White  River,  in  the  lands 
of  Racine  and  Walworth ;  and  behold  my  servants  James 
and  Aaron  shall  plant  it,  for  I  have  given  them  wisdom, 
and  Daniel  shall  stand  in  his  lot  on  the  hill  beside  the 
river,  looking  down  on  the  prairie,  and  shall  instruct  my 
people,  and  shall  plead  with  them  face  to  face. 

Behold  my  servant  James  shall  lengthen  the  cords 
and  strengthen  the  stakes  of  Zion,  and  my  servant  Aaron 
shall  be  his  counselor,  for  he  hath  wisdom  in  the  gospel,  and 
under^tandeth  the  doctrines,  and  errth  not  therein. 

And  I  will  have  a  house  built  unto  me  there  of  stone, 
and  there  will  I  show  myself  to  my  people  by  many  mighty 
works,  and  the  name  of  the  city  shall  be  called  Voree, 
which  is,  being  interpreted,  garden  of  peace,  for  there  shall 
my  people  have  peace  and  rest  and  wax  fat  and  pleasant 
in  the  presence  of  their  enemies. 

But  I  will  again  stretch  out  my  arm  over  the  river 
of  waters,  and  on  the  banks  thereof  shall  the  house  of  my 
choice  be.  But  now  the  city  of  Voree  shall  be  a  strong- 
hold of  safety  to  my  people,  and  they  that  are  faithful 
and  obey  me  I  will  there  give  them  great  prosperity,  and 
such  as  they  have  not  had  before;  and  unto  Voree  shall  be 
the  gathering  of  my  people,  and  there  shall  the  oppressed 
flee1  for  safety,  and  none  shall  hurt  or  molest  them. 

And  by  this  shall  they  know  that  I  have  spoken  it; 
the  people  there  and  the  owners  of  the  land  shall  show 
kindness  to  them,  for  great  calamities  are  coming  on  the 
church,  and  such  as  have  not  been,  and  if  they  scatter,  the 

[71] 


THE    ORDER    OF    ZION 


ungodly  of  the  world  shall  swallow  them  up,  but  if  they 
gather  to  my  city  of  Voree  there  will  I  keep  them  under 
the  shadow  of  my  wings,  and  the  cities  from  whence  my 
people  have  been  driven  shall  be  purged  with  a  high  hand, 
for  I  will  do  it,  and  my  people  shall  be  again  restored  to 
their  possession;  but  dark  clouds  are  gathering,  for  the 
church  is  not  yet  wholly  purged. 

And  now  I  command  my  servants,  the  Apostles  and 
Priests  and  Elders  of  the  Church  of  the  Saints,  that  they 
communicate  and  proclaim  this,  my  word,  to  all  the  saints 
of  God  in  all  the  world,  that  they  may  be  gathered  unto 
and  around  about  the  city  of  Voree  and  be  saved  from  their 
enemies,  for  I  will  have  a  people  to  serve  me. 

And  I  command  my  servant  Moses  Smith  that  he  go 
unto  the  saints  with  whom  he  is  acquainted,  and  unto  many 
people,  and  command  them  in  my  name  to  go  unto  my 
city  of  Voree,  and  gain  inheritance  therein,  and  he  shall 
have  an  inheritance  therein,  for  he  hath  left  all  for  my  sake ; 
and  I  will  add  unto  him  many  fold  if  he  is  faithful,  for  he 
knows  the  land  and  can  testify  to  them  that  it  is  very  good. 

So  spake  the  Almighty  God  of  heaven.  Thy  duty  is 
made  plain,  and  if  thou  lackest  wisdom,  ask  of  God,  in 
whose  hands  I  trust  thee,  and  he  shall  give  thee  unspar- 
ingly, for  if  evil  befall  me  thou  shalt  lead  the  flock  to 
pleasant  pastures.  God  sustain  thee. 

JOSEPH  SMITH. 
James  J.  Strang. 

There  should  be  no  question  in  the  mind  of  anyone  as 
to  the  nature  of  this  letter  and  the  exact  letter  is  still  in 
existence.  If  Joseph  Smith  did  not  appoint  James  J. 
Strang  then  he  surely  would  be  a  false  prophet  or  on  the 
other  hand  he  fell  from  grace  and  inasmuch  as  many  of 
the  leadiing  men  of  the  church  at  that  time  followed  Mr. 
Strang  as  I  will  show  would  surely  prove  this. 

I  quote  from  Times  and  Season,  Vol.  5,  Page  752.     The 

(*  Prophet  Joseph  said,  an  apostate  or  one  who  has  been  cut 

from  the_church  and  wishes  to  come  in  again,  the  law  of 

172] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


the  church  expressly  says  that  such  shall  labor  and  be  bap- 
tized and  be  administered  as  at  first.  This  quotation  is 
very  plain  and  comes  from  what  should  be  the  best  of 
authority. 

Again,  I  quote  from  Saints  Herald,  Vol.  4,  No.  10,  page 
158:     When    individuals   claiming   authority   oF  the   church^ 
as  organized  by  the  first  Joseph,  became  members   of  any*"  x 
faction   they  immediately  became  divested   of  all   authority. 

You  will  plainly  notice  in.  Article  7,  of  the  agreement 
in  the^!918  C^nferenc^"!liatF;M7~5mith,  as  head  of  a 
committee,  together  with  a  like  committee  of  the  church 
of  Christ,  agreed  that  there  are  individuals  in  the  different 
faction  whojhold  the  priesthood,  if  "this  claim  be  true,  then 
anyone  receiving  their  priesthood  from  God  would  be  en- 
titled to  at  least  as  much  consideration.  But  I  must  ques- 
tion very  seriously  whether  or  not  the  reorganization  have 
a  sound  footing. 

Take  William  Marks,  who  was  President  of  the  Navoo 
Stake  June  27,  1844.  First,  we  find  that  he  was  dropped 
from  this  position  August  7,  1844.  In  Times  and  Season, 
Vol.  5,  page  742.  He  takes  the  position  that  the  12  are 
the  proper  persons  to  lead  the  church.  From  the  Voree 
Record  Conference  of  April  6,  1846,  we  find  that  William 
Marks  had  joined  the  J.  J.  Strang  faction  and  was  ap- 
pointed bishop  of  said  church.  In  August,  1849,  he  was 
ordained  an  apostle  in  the  Strang  church.  At  the  same 
time  he  was  6fdame3  and  set  apart  to  administer  baptisms 
for  the  dead.  In  the  Harbinger  and  Organ,  Vol.  3,  pages 
52-3-4,  in  the  year  1853,  we  find  that  Mr.  Marks  had  joined 
the  Tompson  organization  and  in  the  year  1855,  he  joined 
the  John  E.  Page  organization.  According  to  the  above 
quotation  this  certainly  disqualified  him  of  having  any 
authority  whatsoever.  Yet,  he  assisted  in  ordaining  the 
President  of  the  reorganization  on  the  original  baptism. 

Zenos  H.  Gurley,  in  1844,  was  ordained  a  Seventy,  in 
1845  was  made  the  Senior  President  of  the  21st  quorum 
of  Seventies.  As  the  reorganization  repudiates  the  au- 
thority of  the  man  who  ordained  him  and  further  claimed 

[73] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


>nat  there  can  be  only  7  quorums  of  Seventies,  this  would 
disqualify  him,  however  he  rejects  Brigham  Young  and  we 
find  that  he  joins  the  J.  J.  Strang  faction  and  in  the  Gospel 
Herald,  an  organ  of  that  church,  March  15,  1850,  that  he 
is  an  ardent  worker  and  received  an  appointment  Septem- 
ber 16,  1851,  at  Beaver  Island,  of  course,  accepting  J.  J. 
Strang  as  a  king  and  as  a  polygamist  and  in  July  9,  1852, 
he  was  dropped  from  the^Strang  faction  fdFTieresy  and  his 
priesthood  taken  from  him,  which  again  disqualifies  him. 
Again,  we  find  that  he  forsook  the  new  organization  or 
reorganization  which  he  and  J^  W._  Bj*iggs  organized  as 
per  Saints  Herald,  Vol.  33,  page  248-9. 

Jason  W.  Briggs,  another  founder  of  the  new  organi- 
zation or  reorganization,  he  remained  with  President  Young 
until  the  year  of  1846,  and  we  find  in  September,  1849, 
with  B.  G.  Wright,  he  organized  the  Waukesha  Branch  of 
the  J.  J.  Strang  church  and  was  ordained  a  high  priest  in 
said  church  and  became  quite  active  in  that  organization. 
In  1850,  J.  W.  Briggs  left  the  Strang  church  and  joined 
with  William  Smith  who  had  himself  been  a  follower  of 
Mr.  Strang  until  excommunicated,  and  in  the  William  Smith 
church,  Briggs  accepted  the  position  of  apostle.  On  March 
28,  1886,  he  severed  his  connection  with  the  reorganized 
church  which  he  helped^to  organize. 

With  the  above  facts  it  is  plain  to  see  that  these  men 
had  no  priesthood  neither  had  they  any  authority  and  had 
no  right  whatever  to  organize  any  new  church  or  organi- 
zation. I  still  claim  that  all  the  honest  in  heart  that  have 
accepted  the  restored  Gospel  of  our  Lord  and  Savior,  Jesus 
Christ,  and  received  their  ordination  from  a  divine  source 
will  still  be  authorized  to  labor  and  work  in  the  cause  of 
Christ.  If  they  refuse  to  accept  autocracy  as  certainly  has 
involved  the  honest  in  heart  in  all  of  the  troubles  of  the 
past. 

It  is  plainly  set  forth  in  the  Truth  Teller,  published 
by  the  Hedrickite  faction,  in  Vol.  1,  Nos.  1-2-3-4,  that  they 
renounced  all  claims  of  the  reorganization  and  a  careful 
study  of  the  first  volume  of  their  work  entitled  the  Truth 
Teller  will  convince  anyone  that  the  claim  that  is  made  in 

[74] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


the  1918  Conference  by  the  reorganization  and  the  Hed- 
rickite  faction,  that  they  held  no  common  grounds  with 
either  but  classed  each  other  as  rank  apostates  and  Mr. 
Hedrick  himself,  claims  to  have  received  a  revelation,  that 
he  was  a  prophet,  seer  and  revelator. 

Dear  readers,  with  all  of  these  charges  and  counter- 
charges, who  will  you  believe?  The  entire  trouble  comes 
from  the  appointment  of  a  first  presidency  and  there  is  no 
law  given  in  the  Law  of  Christ,  where  that  there  should  be 
any  authority  higher  than  the  twelve  apostles  and  when 
we  get  back  to  that  condition  and  choose  the  twelve  apostles 
from  among  the  elders,  by  casting  lots  as  referred  to  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  also  Heb.  3-1,  the  quotation  is  made, 
"Wherefore,  Holy  brethren,  partakers  of  the  heavenly  call- 
ing, consider  the  apostle  and  high  priest  of  our  profession 
Jesus  Christ."  An  apostle  in  this  sense  is  a  high  priest  and 
can  officiate  in  the  highest  position,  if  called  in  the  proper 
manner  from  among  the  elders.  Likewise  the  seventies  may 
be  called  but  when  their  mission  is  finished,  they  again 
fill  their  place  as  Elders  in  the  church  and  surely  have  no 
higher  authority. 


[751 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


CHAPTER  9 

(I  quote  the  entire  Chapter  5,  page  45,  in  the  book  written 
by  David  Whitmer,  Richmond,  Mo.,  1887.  One  of  the  three 
witnesses  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.) 

ONE  MAN  TO  LEAD  AND  RECEIVE  REVELATIONS 

FOR  THE  CHURCH,  NOT  ACCORDING  TO 

THE  TEACHINGS  OF  CHRIST. 

When  Christ  came  into  the  world,  the  doctrine  of  a  one- 
man  leader  to  the  church  was  not  taught  by  him,  and  we  are 
under  his  teachings  in  the  written  word.  In  the  old  cove- 
nant in  the  Book  of  Mormon  is  a  prophecy  that  a  "Choice 
Seer"  is  to  come  forth — of  the  seed  of  Joseph,  of  the  seed  of 
Lehi — who  is  to  bring  forth  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  the 
sealed  records  of  the  Nephites,  and  convince  the  Lamanites, 
and  restore  them  and  the  house  of  Israel ;  his  work  is  not  de- 
fined any  farther  than  this.  We  suppose  his  work  will  be 
defined  in  the  records  which  he  will  hereafter  bring  forth. 
We  are  told  in  2  Nephi.  ii:17,  Ether  i:ll,  that  the  sealed 
records  are  not  to  come  forth  in  the  days  of  wickedness  and 
abomination  of  the  people.  Then  the  more  wicked  part  of 
the  people  will  be  cut  off  before  they  are  brought  forth.  It 
may  be  as  it  was  when  Christ  came  to  the  people  on  this 
continent.  We  are  told  in  Ether  i:ll,  that  the  sealed  records 
"shall  not  go  forth  unto  the  Gentiles"  until  the  day  that  they 
shall  repent  of  their  iniquity,  and  become  "clean  before  the 
Lord,"  and  have  faith  in  him  even  as  the  brother  of  Jared 
did.  Again,  it  says  this  "Choice  Seer"  will  do  strictly  accord- 
ing to  the  commandments  of  God.  This  means  that  he  will 
be  a  holy  man.  \Ve  have  seen  from  a  revelation  given  to 
Brother  Joseph,  that  he  broke  the  commandments  of  God 
from  the  beginning.  Now,  as  the  wicked  will  be  cut  off,  the 
people  being  clean  before  the  Lord,  and  this  Choice  Seer 
being  a  holy  man,  the  people  in  this  condition  will  be  fitted 
to  give  heed  to  him,  and  they  will  not  be  led  astray  by  him, 
because  the  Word  of  God  says  so.  At  the  present  time  we  are 

[76] 


ij  ^f^ 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


under  the  teachings  of  Christ  in  the  written  word,  and  His 
teachings  to  us,  the  Book  of  Mormon,  plainly  tells  us,  are 
to  be  made  known  in  the  records  of  the  Jews  (the  Bible), 
and  the  Nephite  records.  "All  men  must  come  unto  Him,  or 
they  cannot  be  saved.  AND  THEY  MUST  COME  AC- 
CORDING TO  THE  WORDS  WHICH  SHALL  BE 
ESTABLISHED  BY  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  LAMB; 
AND  THE  WORDS  OF  THE  LAMB  SHALL  BE  MADE 
KNOWN  IN  THE  RECORDS  OF  THY  SEED  (THE 
NEPHITE  RECORDS),  AS  WELL  AS  IN  THE  REC- 
ORDS pF  THE  TWELVE  APOSTLES  OF  THE  LAMB 
(The  Bible)  ;  wherefore  they  both  shall  be  established  in 
one."  (1  Nephi  iii:43.) 

All  men  must  come  to  Christ  according  to  the  words 
which  shall  be  established  by  Christ,  AND  HIS  WORDS 
SHALL  BE  MADE  KNOWN  IN  THE  NEPHITE  REC- 
ORDS AND  THE  BIBLE.  So  the  book  of  Doctrine  and 
Covenants  must  be  laid  down.  Brethren,  this  scripture  is  very 
plain,  and  I  hope  that  none  of  you  will  attempt  to  wrest  it  to 
uphold  the  Book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants.  Then  let  us 
heed  only  the  teachings  of  Christ  which  we  have,  and  discard 
the  teachings  of  Joseph  Smith  or  any  other  man  or  angel 
which  conflict  with  Christ's  teachings  in  the  Bible  and  Book 
of  Mormon ;  and  when  more  of  the  words  of  Christ  come 
forth  in  the  way  that  it  is  appointed  to  come,  from  the  sealed 
records,  then  we  will  heed  it  also. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  New  Testament  part  of  either 
the  Bible  or  Book  of  Mormon  concerning  a  one-man  leader 
or  head  to  the  church.  Whoever  claims  that  such  an  office 
should  be  in  the  church  today,  goes  beyond  the  teachings 
which  Christ  has  given  us.  As  I  have  stated,  we  were  strictly 
commanded  in  the  beginning  to  rely  upon  that  which  was 
then  written,  to  the  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith  to  establish 
any  order  or  doctrine  in  the  church,  must  come  under  the 
head  of  those  whom  Christ  spoke  of  when  He  said,  "Whoso- 
ever teaches  more  or  less,  etc.,  is  not  of  me."  This  alone 
should  satisfy  anyone  who  is  not  trusting  in  an  arm  of  flesh. 
Who  was  "Prophet  Seer  and  Revelator"  to  the  church  at 

[77] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


Jerusalem?  They  had  none.  Who  was  "Prophet  Seer  and 
Revelator"  to  the  church  upon  this  land?  They  had  none. 
And  we  had  no  such  an  office  in  the  church  in  these  last 
days  for  the  first  eight  months  of  its  existence,  until  Brother 
Joseph  went  into  this  error  on  April  6,  1830,  and,  after  un- 
wittingly breaking  a  command  of  God  by  taking  upon  himself 
such  an  office,  in  a  few  years  these  revelations  were  changed 
to  admit  this  high  office  which  otherwise  would  have  con- 
demned it.  They  were  changed  to  mean  something  entirely 
different  from  the  way  they  were  first  given  and  printed  in 
the  Book  of  Commandments ;  as  if  God  had  not  thought  of 
this  great  and  important  office  when  he  gave  those  revela- 
tions. Yet  in  the  face  of  the  writen  word  of  God,  and  in  the 
face  of  all  this  evidence,  the  majority  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints 
will  still  cling  to  the  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith  and  measure 
the  written  word  of  God  by  them,  instead  of  measuring  Joseph 
Smith  and  his  revelations  by  the  written  word.  Speaking 
after  the  manner  of  Paul  to  the  Galatians,  so  say  I  to  you: 
O  foolish  Latter  Day  Saints  *  *  *  I  marvel,  that  ye  are 
so  soon  removed  from  Him  that  called  you  into  the  grace  of 
Christ,  unto  another  gospel ;  which  is  not  another,  but  the 
same  gospel  which  some  have  perverted ;  and  though  we,  or 
an  angel  from  heaven,  or  Joseph  Smith,  preach  any  other 
gospel  unto  you  than  that  which  Christ  gave  us  in  the  be- 
ginning, receive  it  not.  (See  Gal.  i:6-9). 

In  the  Church  of  Christ  at  Jerusalem,  and  upon  this  land, 
the  members  all  received  the  revealed  will  of  God  for  them- 
selves, through  the  various  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  by 
dreams,  visions,  the  visitation  of  Angels,  the  gifts  of  prophecy, 
through  themselves  or  any  brother ;  and  the  Holy  Ghost  that 
was  in  them  always  discerning  whether  the  revelation  was 
made  of  God  or  not.  They  had  no  Prophet  and  Revelator  to 
go  to  when  they  desired  to  know  the  will  of  the  Lord  con- 
cerning them;  they  went  to  the  Lord  themselves;  sometimes 
alone,  and  sometimes  several  of  them  together  in  fasting  and 
prayer.  Of  course,  I  believe  that  God  reveals  His  will  to 
His  servants  in  these  last  days,  just  as  in  days  of  old,  but  1 
believe  in  it  according  to  the  scriptures  of  divine  truth. 

[78] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


In  the  Church  upon  the  Eastern  continent,  after  Christ 
had  ascended  to  His  Father's  throne  and  left  the  work  with 
His  disciples  to  carry  on,  they  went  to  God  for  themselves, 
each  and  all  of  them  receiving  the  will  of  God  by  the  various 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Paul,  Peter,  Barnabas,  Philip  and 
others  went  here  and  there  preaching,  every  one  receiving 
revelations  from  God  for  themselves,  by  dreams,  visions,  the 
gift  of  prophecy,  etc.  They  had  no  head  of  the  Church  on 
earth  to  go  to.  Christ  told  them  that  the  Holy  Ghost — the 
Comforter — that  would  abide  with  them  and  with  all  His 
disciples,  would  guide  them  and  lead  them  into  all  truth  and 
show  them  things  to  come.  If  any  man  lacks  wisdom,  and 
desires  to  know  the  will  of  the  Lord  concerning  himself,  let 
him  ask  of  God  for  himself,  not  ask  of  the  Prophet  Seer  and 
Revelator  to  inquire  of  the  Lord  for  him. 

Just  after  Christ  had  established  his  church  upon  this 
land  and  ascended  into  heaven,  there  were  disputations  among 
the  Nephite  brethren  on  one  point;  that  was  the  name  by 
which  they  must  call  the  church.  The  brethren  did  not  go 
to  a  Prophet  Seer  and  Revelator  to  get  him  to  inquire  of  the 
Lord  about  this  matter;  Christ  had  not  so  instructed  them. 
They  had  no  such  an  officer  in  the  church.  They  went  to 
God  in  prayer  and  fasting,  and  received  an  answer  to  their 
prayers,  and  it  was  not  through  any  head  or  leader  to  the 
church,  but  Christ  Himself. 

Brethren,  this  high  office  as  you  have  it,  is  of  far  more 
importance  than  any  other  office  in  the  church.  Now  do 
you  not  suppose  that  if  Christ  meant  for  such  an  office  to 
be  in  the  church  today,  that  full  instructions  would  have  been 
given  in  His  teachings  about  it?  As  you  know  we  were 
commanded  in  the  beginning  to  rely  upon  that  which  is 
written.  Such  an  office  in  Christ's  teachings  in  either  book 
is  not  even  mentioned ;  but  I  need  not  rehearse  the  matter. 
I  cannot  make  it  more  plain.  As  I  have  said,  you  have  the 
scriptures  before  you,  and  if  you  will  wrest  them  it  shall  be 
to  your  own  destruction.  This  matter  of  a  one-man  mouth- 
piece of  God  to  the  church,  has  proven  the  great  curse  of  the 

[79] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


work  of  God  in  these  last  days.  It  is  through  this  instru- 
mentality that  Satan  has  many  thousand  souls  deluded.  A 
man  who  was  weak  and  unstable  from  the  time  God  called 
him,  set  himself  up  as  Prophet  and  Seer  to  the  church,  and 
the  church  to  receive  his  words  as  if  from  God's  own  mouth. 
Such  a  thing  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  truths  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Look  at  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand deluded  souls  in  Utah,  believing  in  a  revelation  given 
through  this  man  that  we  are  to  be  exalted  to  the  highest 
glory  in  the  world  to  come,  through  spiritual  wifeism ;  also 
the  twenty  thousand  or  more  souls  who  are  blinded  to  believe 
in  the  revelations  of  this  man  who  has  introduced  doctrines 
into  the  church  that  conflict  with  the  written  word  of  God. 
As  it  was  in  the  days  of  ancient  Israel  and  in  the  days  of  the 
Apostles,  so  it  is  in  this  day.  "Cursed  be  the  man  that  trust- 
eth  in  man  and  maketh  flesh  his  arm,  and  whose  heart  de- 
parteth  from  the  Lord."  Jer.  xvii:5. 

(I  quote  the  entire  Chapter  7,  page  53,  in  the  book  written 
by  David  Whitmer,  Richmond,  Mo.,  1887.  One  of  the  three 
witnesses  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.) 

RELATIVE  TO  PUBLISHING  THE  REVELATIONS. 

Publishing  the  early  revelations,  or  any  of  them,  was 
contrary  to  the  will  of  the  Lord  as  I  will  show  you  from  the 
Revelations  themselves.  The  Revelations  in  the  Book  of  Com- 
mandments up  to  June,  1829,  were  given  through  the  "stone," 
through  which  the  Book  of  Mormon  was  translated.  These 
are  the  only  revelations  that  can  be  relied  upon,  and  they 
are  not  law.  The  Lord  told  us  not  to  teach  them  for  doc- 
trine; they  were  given  mostly  to  individuals,  the  persons 
whom  God  chose  in  commencing  His  work  for  their  individual 
instruction,  and  the  church  had  no  need  of  them.  They 
should  have  been  kept  with  the  sacred  papers  and  records  of 
the  church,  and  never  published  in  a  book  to  become  public 
property  for  the  eyes  of  the  world.  It  was  not  necessary  for 
the  whole  church  to  ever  see  them.  The  written  word  is  full 
on  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  Church  of  Christ.  Of  course 
I  believe  in  God  revealing  His  will  to  His  servants  in  these 

[80] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


days,  by  the  various  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  but  I  believe  in  it 
according  to  the  Sricptures.  .  In  the  revelations  themselves 
are  positive  commands  to  keep  these  things  from  the  world, 
that  they  are  sacred,  etc.  A  revelation  was  given  to  Oliver 
Cpwdery  in  April,  1829  (Sec.  v:ll,  13),  in  which  he  is  told 
that  he  would  be  granted  a  gift  "to  translate  even  as  my 
servant  Joseph,"  warning  him  as  follows :  "Remember,  it  is 
sacred,  and  cometh  from  above  *  *  *  Trifle  not  with 
sacred  things  *  *  *  Make  not  thy  gift  known  unto  any, 
save  it  be  those  who  are  of  thy  faith."  But  they  published 
these  things  in  a  book,  and  made  them  knoAvn  to  the  world. 
~Tn~  a  revelation  to  Martin  Harris  (Sec.  18)  concerning 
endless  punishment,  are  these  words:  "And  I  command  you 
that  you  preach  naught  but  repentance ;  and  show  not  these 
"things,  neither  speak  these  things  unto  the  world; 
for  they  cannot  bear  meat,  but  milk  they  must  receive ;  where- 
fore, they  must  not  know  these  things,  lest  they  perish."  This 
revelation  reads  as  I  have  quoted  it,  in  the  Book  of  Com- 
mandments ;  but  in  the  Doctrine  and  Covenants  it  has  been 
changed  to  read  thus :  "Show  not  these  things  unto  the 
world,  until  it  is  wisdom  in  me."  The  words,  "until  it  is 
wisdom  in  me,"  were  added  to  this  revelation.  You  see  they 
had  to  add  these  words  in  order  to  publish  the  revelations. 
Judge  for  yourself,  brethren :  I  will  make  no  further  com- 
ments to  magnify  the  errors  of  the  leaders  of  the  church. 
My  policy  throughout  will  be  to  speak  of  no  more  of  their 
errors  than  is  necessary  in  order  to  prove  all  false  doctrines 
as  being  false,  and  establishing  the  doctrine  of  Christ  as  it  is 
set  forth  in  the  written  word. 

The  main  reason  why  the  printing  press  was  destroyed, 
was  because  they  published  the  Book  of  Commandments.  It 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  world,  and  the  people  of  Jackson 
County,  Missouri,  saw  from  the  revelations  that  they  were 
considered  by  the  church  as  intruders  upon  the  land  of  Zion, 
as  enemies  to  the  church,  and  that  they  should  be  cut  off  out 
of  the  land  of  Zion  and  sent  away.  The  people  seeing  these 
things  in  the  Book  of  Commandments  became  the  more  en- 
raged, tore  down  the  printing  press,  and  drove  the  church 

[81] 


THE    ORDER   OF    ZION 


out  of  Jackson  County  (See  Doc.  and  Cov.,  Sections  52:9, 
64:7,  45  :15).  "Which  is  the  land  of  your  inheritance.  Which 
is  now  the  land  of  your  enemies."  "And  the  rebellious  shall 
be  cut  off  out  of  the  land  of  Zion,  and  shall  be  sent  away, 
and  shall  not  inherit  the  land."  "And  now  I  say  unto  you, 
keep  these  things  from  going  abroad  unto  the  world*  until  it 
is  expedient  in  me,  that  ye  may  accomplish  this  work  in  the 
eyes  of  the  people,  and  in  the  eyes  of  your  enemies,  that 
they  may  not  know  your  works  until  ye  have  accomplished 
the  thing  which  I  have  commanded  you."  This  is  sufficient. 
I  will  quote  no  more  to  show  you  that  the  leaders  made  a 
mistake  in  publishing  the  revelations  in  a  book.  It  is  too 
plain. 

Brethren,  does  it  not  look  strange  that  they  should  have 
been  so  blind  as  to  go  ahead  and  publish  these  revelations  in 
the  face  of  this  plain  language  to  keep  these  things  from  the 
world?  It  surely  does  look  strange. 

I  will  now  tell  you  of  a  prophecy  which  the  Lord  gave 
through  me  to  Brothers  Joseph  Smith  and  Sydney  Rigdon,  of 
what  should  come  to  pass  if  they  printed  those  revelations. 
In  the  spring  of  1832,  in  Hiram,  Ohio,  Brothers  Joseph  and 
Sydney,  and  others,  concluded  that  the  revelations  should 
be  printed  in  a  book.  A  few  of  the  brethren  —  including  my- 
self —  objected  to  it  seriously.  We  told  them  that  if  the  revela- 
tions were  published,  the  world  would  get  the  books,  and  it 
would  not  do;  that  it  was  not  the  will  of  the  Lord  that  -the  y 

/^ 


revelations  should  be  published.  But  Brothers  Joseph 
Sydney  would  not  listen  to  us,  and  said  they  were  going  to 
send  them  to  Independence  to  be  published.  I  objected  to  it 
and  withstood  Brothers  Joseph  and  Sydney  to  the  face. 
Brother  Joseph  said  as  follows:  "Any  man  who  objects  to 
having  these  revelations  published,  shall  have  his  part  taken 
out  of  the  Tree  of  Life  and  out  of  the  Holy  City."  The  Spirit 
of  God  came  upon  me  and  I  prophesied  to  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord:  "That  if  they  sent  those  revelations  to  Inde- 
pendence to  be  published  in  a  book,  the  people  would  come 
upon  them  and  tear  down  the  printing  press,  and  the  church 

[82] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


would  be  driven  out  of  Jackson  County."  Brothers  Joseph 
and  Sydney  laughed  at  me.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1833, 
at  Independence,  Mo.,  the  revelations  were  printed  in  the 
Book  of  Commandments.  Many  of  the  books  were  finished 
and  distributed  among  the  members  of  the  church  and  through 
some  of  the  unwise  brethren,  the  world  got  hold  of  some  oi 
them.  From  that  time  the  ill-feeling  toward  us  began  to  in- 
crease; and  in  the  summer  of  1833  the  mob  came  upon  us, 
tore  down  the  printing  press,  and  drove  the  church  out  of 
Jackson  County.  Brothers  Joseph  and  Sydney  then  saw  that 
I  did  have  some  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  after  my  prophecy  had 
been  fulfilled.  To  show  you  that  Brother  Joseph  and  myself 
still  loved  each  other  as  brethren  after  this,  I  will  tell  you 
that  he  had  so  much  confidence  in  me  that  in  July,  1834,  he 
ordained  me  his  successor  as  "Prophet  Seer  and  Revelator" 
to  the  Church.  He  did  this  of  his  own  free  will  and  not  at 
any  solicitation  whatever  on  my  part.  I  did  not  know  what 
he  was  going  to  do  until  he  laid  his  hands  upon  me  and  or- 
dained me. 

Now,  bear  in  mind,  brethren,  that  I  am  not  claiming  this 
office;  as  I  have  told  you,  I  do  not  believe  in  any  such  an 
office  in  the  church.  I  was  then  in  error  in  believing  that 
there  was  such  an  office  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  I  suppose 
this  is  news  to  many  of  you — that  Brother  Joseph  ordained 
me  his  successor — but  it  is  in  your  records,  and  there  are 
men  now  living  who  were  present  in  that  council  of  elders 
when  he  did  it,  in  the  camp  of  Zion,  on  Fishing  River,  Mis- 
souri, July,  1834. 

This  is  why  many  of  the  brethren  came  to  me  after 
Brother  Joseph  was  killed,  and  importuned  me  to  come  out 
and  lead  the  church.  I  refused  to  do  so.  Christ  is  the  only 
leader  and  head  of  his  church. 

Now,  brethren,  I  will  ask  you  to  read  the  early  revela- 
tions that  were  given  through  the  stone,  up  to  June,  1829,  and 
see  if  this  matter  is  not  just  as  I  have  told  you ;  that  they — 
or  any  other  revelations — should  never  have  been  published, 
thus  necessarily  becoming  public  property  for  the  eyes  of  the 

[83] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


world.  Also  notice  that  they  were  given  to  individuals,  to 
those  whom  God  chose  in  commencing  his  work,  for  their 
individual  instruction,  and  were  not  given  to  the  church,  and 
the  church  had  no  need  of  them.  In  the  Book  of  Doctrine 
and  Covenants  they  are  sections  2  to  16,  inclusive.  The 
headings  over  sections  4  and  7  are  not  like  they  are  in  the 
Book  of  Commandments,  in  which  the  headings  show  that 
they  were  also  given  to  individuals.  Section  4  is  a  revelation 
given  to  Joseph  Smith  and  Martin  Harris.  Section  7  is  a 
revelation  given  to  Oliver  Cowdery. 

Now,  bear  in  mind  that  these  revelations  were  given 
through  the  "stone,"  while  the  Book  of  Mormon  was  being 
translated.  The  revelations  in  June,  1829,  were  given  about 
the  time  the  translation  of  the  book  was  finished.  As  I  have 
stated  before,  Brother  Joseph  gave  up  the  stone  a  few  months 
after  translating  the  Book  of  Mormon.  You  can  see  from 
the  Book  of  Doctrine  and  Covenants  that  the  next  revelation 
after  June,  1829,  is  March,  1830,  a  period  of  nine  months,  and 
we  had  been  preaching  since  August,  1829.  Now  you  notice 
that  when  the  revelations  began  to  come  again,  at  the  end  of 
this  nine  months  (this  time  through  Brother  Joseph  as 
"mouthpiece"),  they  came  thick  and  fast,  and  are  of  a  dif- 
ferent character  to  those  given  through  the  stone,  which  were 
given  to  individuals  for  their  individual  instruction  in  com- 
mencing the  work. 


[84] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


CHAPTER  10 

Oliver  Cowdery  and  David  Whitmer  were  instructed  to 
choose  the  twelve  apostles  in  the  year  1829;  why  this  was 
not  done  there  is  very  strong  evidence  that  later  a  strong 
tendency  seems  to  have  arose  to  place  a  First  Presidency  in 
the  church  contrary  to  the  law  of  Christ. 

When  Lymon  Wight  and  others  established  a  settlement 
at  Kirtland,  Ohio,  and  they  had  all  things  in  common  it  was 
the  starting  point  of  carrying  out  the  law  of  Zion  as  per  the 
Christ  law,  where  there  would  be  no  rich  or  poor  among 
them,  Mr.  Wight  was  one  of  the  original  Twelve  and  never 
did  accept  the  claim  of  any  other  organization  but  died  an 
honorable  man. 

Bishop  George  Miller  was  the  Bishop  of  the  church  when 
Joseph  was  murdered  at  Carthage,  Illinois.  He  never  could 
claim  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Young  and  for  a  while  stayed  with 
Mr.  Wight  in  Texas,  but  after  he  was  convinced  that  Mr. 
Strang  was  chosen  by  Revelation  as  the  successor  of  Joseph 
Smith.  (See  Order  of  Zion  book  pages  69-70-71-72),  he  re- 
moved to  Beaver  Island  and  accepted  the  claims  of  Mr. 
Strang;  of  course,  like  many  other  honest  men  he  was  lead 
to  believe  that  the  Law  all  depended  on  a  First  Presidency. 
(Read  correspondence  of  Bishop  Miller  in  his  book.) 

Now  when  Joseph  Smith  was  appointed  a  Prophet  of 
God,  where  did  he  get  any  right  to  assume  the  Presidency 
of  the  Church?  the  claim  is  made  in  D.  C.  that  he  was,  but 
Vol.  1  of  Reorganized  Church  history  is  in  doubt  as  to  which 
is  right,  the  Book  of  Commandments  or  D.  C.,  in  fact,  no  one 
is  certain  and  the  whole  matter  rests  on  an  assumption,  which 
is  very  dangerous  ground. 

Kirtland,  Ohio,  failure ;  Independence,  Mo.,  failure ;  Far 
West,  failure ;  Nauvoo,  failure ;  Voree,  Wis.,  failure ;  Beaver 
Island,  failure;  all  because  of  establishing  an  autocratic  form 
of  government.  When  Joseph  Smith  appointed  53  princes  to 
set  up  a  kingdom  he  lost  his  life ;  when  Mr.  Strang  undertook 
to  do  the  same  thing  he  lost  his  life.  We  cannot  forsake 

[85] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


Christ  and  His  laws  of  all  things  in  "Common,"  or  the  law 
of  equality. 

But  as  the  days  of  Noe  were,  so  shall  also  the  coming 
of  the  Son  of  man  be,  for  as  in  the  days  that  were  before  the 
flood  they  were  eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and  given  in 
marriage  until  the  day  that  Noe  entered  into  the  ark,  and 
knew  not  until  the  flood  came  and  took  them  all  away:  So 
shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  be.  Then  shall  two 
be  in  the  field,  the  one  shall  be  taken  and  the  other  left ;  two 
women  shall  be  grinding  at  the  mill,  the  one  shall  be  taken 
and  the  other  left.  Watch  therefore:  for  ye  know  not  what 
hour  your  Lord  doth  come.  Matt.  24-37-42. 

But  he  that  is  an  Hireling  and  not  the  shepherd  whose 
own  the  sheep  are  not  seeth  the  wolf  coming  and  leaveth 
the  sheep.  John  10-12.  Christ  went  into  the  temple  and 
threw  over  the  tables  of  the  money  changers  and  drove  them 
out  of  the  temple.  Paul  worked  as  a  tent  maker  that  he 
might  not  be  a  burden  to  the  Saints,  and  preached  in  his 
own  hired  house.  Ablebodied  men  that  take  a  living  from 
the  people  under  the  pretense  of  being  ministers  or  elders 
of  the  people  and  rob  the  people  of  their  just  blongings, 
always  begging  for  money,  are  not  the  servants  of  God,  no 
man  has  an  excuse  for  living  off  of  the  toils  of  another; 
every  man  should  earn  his  living  by  the  sweat  of  his  own 
brow,  and  no  saint  of  God  should  be  deceived  in  believing 
these  deceivers  that  come  to  you  as  wolves  in  sheep's  cloth- 
ing. 

Whosoever  transgresseth,  and  abideth  not  in  the  doctrine 
of  Christ  hath  not  God;  he  that  abideth  in  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  hath  both  the  Father  and  the  Son.  If  there  come 
any  unto  you  and  bring  not  this  doctrine  receive  him  not 
into  your  house  neither  bid  him  God's  speed.  For  he  that 
biddeth  him  God's  speed  is  partaker  of  his  evil  deeds.  2nd 
John  9-11-12.  We  must  then  be  careful  that  we  do  not  re- 
ceive those  as  ministers  of  Christ  unless  we  know  they  are 
sent  from  God,  for  he  that  is  sent  from  God  teaches  the  things 
of  God. 

[86] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


"Atonement."  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will 
draw  all  men  unto  me.  John  12-32.  Yet  a  little  while  is  the 
light  with  you,  walk  while  ye  have  the  light,  lest  darkness 
come  upon  you:  for  he  that  walketh  in  darkness  knoweth 
not  whither  he  goeth.  While  ye  have  the  light,  believe  in 
the  light,  that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  light.  John  12-35-36. 

"Faith."  Beloved  when  I  gave  all  diligence  to  write  unto 
you  of  the  Common  salvation,  it  was  needful  for  me  to  write 
unto  you,  and  exhort  you  that  ye  should  earnestly  contend 
for  the  faith  which  was  once  delivered  to  the  Saints.  Judge  3. 
But  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  him;  for  he  that 
cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  a  re- 
warder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him.  Heb.  11-6.  And 
this  is  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,  that  every  one  that 
seeth  the  Son,  and  believeth  on  him,  may  have  everlasting 
life ;  and  I  will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day.  John  6-40. 

This  know  also  that  in  the  last  days  perilous  times  shall 
come,  for  men  shall  be  lovers  of  their  own  selves,  covetous, 
boasters,  proud,  blasphemers,  disobedient  to  parents,  unthank- 
ful, unholy.  2  Tim.  3  :l-2.  Yes,  on  every  hand  we  can  see 
men  that  seek  for  self  praise,  seeking  to  establish  themselves 
in  their  own  way,  trying  to  get  the  uniformed  to  follow  their 
way  ,always  seeing  and  hoping  to  secure  other  men's  talents, 
trying  to  imitate  others  in  being  superior.  Boasting  of  their 
greatness,  proud  of  their  own  achievements,  seeing  no  real 
good  in  the  efforts  of  others,  declaring  themselves  to  be  en- 
dowed with  great  power,  unthankful  of  those  little  things  that 
make  life  worth  while,  unholy  in  Godly  ways,  in  neglecting 
the  daily  duties  toward  the  poor  and  needy. 

Without  natural  affection,  truce  breakers,  false  accusers, 
incontinent,  fierce,  despisers  of  those  that  are  good.  Traitors, 
heady,  highminded,  lovers  of  pleasure  more  than  lovers  of 
God.  Having  a  form  of  godliness  but  denying  the  power 
thereof,  from  such,  turn  away.  2  Tim.  3.  3-4-5.  Yes,  we  can 
see  on  every  hand  those  that  are  ready  to  falsely  accuse  those 
that  do  not  see  and  agree  with  them,  giving  no  reason  but 
simply  ready  to  denounce  all  that  come  in  their  way.  Fierce, 
yes,  using  their  own  power  to  overthrow  others,  and  if  pos- 

[87] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


sible  to  use  force  they  would  destroy  and  burn  at  a  stake  in 
the  name  of  religion.  It  is  they  that  seek  pleasure  in  ways 
of  the  world,  following  in  the  paths  of  sin,  they  cannot  see 
the  poor,  the  sick,  the  blind,  they  do  not  hear  the  moan  of 
the  widow  and  the  orphan  in  distress.  Having  a  "Form," 
yes,  denying  the  voice  of  revelation,  denying  to  others  the 
right  of  Divine  guidance.  It  is  they  who  would  slay  the 
prophets  of  God  because  of  blinded  zeal,  centering  their  hope 
in  an  autocratic  power  of  having  one  man  to  interpose  for 
them,  forgetting  the  law  of  "Common  Consent"  to  rule,  yes, 
from  such  turn  away. 

For  of  this"  sort  are  they  which  creep  into  houses  and 
lead  captive  silly  women  laden  with  $ins,  lead  away  with 
divers  lusts. 

Ever  learning,  and  never  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth.  2  Tim.  3.  6-7.  Yes,  to  creep  in  and  lead  captive 
the  mind  of  the  uninformed  to  a  life  of  secret  things,  in  get- 
ting women  to  believe  that  they  should  live  as  the  wives  of 
one  man.  King  Saul  laid  the  foundation.  King  David  had 
many  wives.  King  Solomon  gave  the  extreme,  with  700  wives 
and  300  concubines.  The  people  then  denied  the  Prophet 
Samuel  and  other  prophets.  Now,  we,  come  to  last  days, 
Joseph  sought  to  be  president  of  the  nation,  chose  53  princes, 
the  secret  wife  system  was  evident  and  he  came  to  a  sad  end. 
J.  J.  Strang,  his  appointed  successor  for  a  time,  denounced 
these  things,  but  alas,  he  left  Voree  to  its  fate  and  was  crown- 
ed king  of  Beaver  Island  and  his  life  was  taken.  God  always 
puts  to  an  end  those  that  seek  to  overthrow  the  Church  of 
Christ.  What,  then  can  be  hoped  for  with  the  lead  of  a 
man  that  is  given  the  same  kingly  power  at  this  time,  one  who 
claims  and  assumes  the  right  to  appoint  Apostles,  Bishops, 
High  Councils,  Stakes  and  Stake  Presidents,  who  does  away 
with  branch  organizations  and  establishes  the  group  system, 
forcing  the  people  to  accept  appointed  men  from  the  king 
head  and  all  down  to  the  deacon,  where  is  the  suffrage  of  a 
God-loving  people  ?  Is  it  any  wonder  that  hundreds  have  pro- 
tested and  are  separating  themselves  from  the  rule  of  tyranny, 
who  can  tell  where  this  will  lead  the  faithful.  Perhaps  again 
the  sad  fate  at  Kirtland,  Nauvoo  or  Beaver  Island. 

[88] 


THE   ORDER   OF    ZION 


God  has  again  spoken  by  His  voice  for  the  honest  in 
heart  to  come  together  and  establish  his  cause.  His  revealed 
word  must  not  go  unheeded,  for  sad  will  be  the  peril  of  those 
that  refuse  to  hear  his  voice.  Do  not  be  deceived.  God  is 
not  mocked.  There  is  no  established  church  on  earth  today 
in  harmony  with  His  law,  and  only  through  the  establishing 
and  in  gathering  of  the  honest  in  heart,  who  have  accepted 
the  restored  Gospel  can  the  Order  of  Zion  be  accomplished, 
and  the  Church  of  Christ  set  in  order. 

We  believe  in  the  religion  of  Christ  and  His  gospel  to  the 
end  that  man  may  free  himself  from  fear  and  superstition,  that 
he  may  take  advantage  of  the  forces  of  nature  to  feed  and 
clothe  the  world  and  in  this  we  believe  we  must  be  honest 
with  ourselves.  In  the  countless  mysteries  beneath  the  heaven 
sown  thick  with  constellations  knowing  that  each  grain  of 
sand,  each  blade  of  grass,  each  bud  asks  every  mind  the 
answerless  question,  knowing  the  sinfulest  thing  defies  solu- 
tion. We  are  forever  eluded  by  the  real,  the  absolute  and 
we  should  be  fair  enough  to  admit  the  limitations  of  our 
mind.  Then  let  us  have  the  courage  and  candor  to  say  we 
do  not  know.  Multitudes  have  been  lead  into  scepticism, 
doubt  and  distrust  because  they  are  not  willing  to  admit  that 
there  is  a  limitation  of  the  mind  in  the  ordinary  sense  and 
that  more  or  less  we  are  moved  by  the  impulses  of  childhood 
where  we  are  taught  to  believe  and  forced  to  believe  con- 
ditions because  that  our  parentage  have  lead  us  to  these  di- 
rections. In  this  sense  many  a  child  has  been  forced  to  take 
up  an  educational  study  contrary  to  their  wishes  and  will, 
and  at  all  times  with  a  protest,  and  how  often  do  we  find 
when  they  come  to  the  age  of  maturity  that  they  put  their 
protest  into  effect  and  go  out  in  their  own  sphere  in  order 
o  have  the  proper  freedom  of  mind  and  thought.  We  hope 
then  that  the  intelligent  reader  may  see  a  ray  of  hope  in  the 
establishing  of  those  conditions  that  would  bring  us  in  har- 
mony with  the  great  preacher. 

JOHN  ZAHND. 

[89] 


I  LIVE  FOR  THOSE  WHO  LOVE  ME 
By  Frances  Margaret  Milne. 


I  live  for  those  who  love  me, 

Whose  hearts  are  kind  and  true; 
For  the  heaven  that  smiles  above  me, 

And  awaits  my  spirit,  too; 
For  all  humanities  that  bind  me, 
For  the  tasks  that  God  assigned  me, 
For  the  bright  hopes  left  behind  me, 
And  the  good  that  I  can  do. 

I  live  to  hail  the  season, 

By  gifted  minds  foretold, 
When  men  shall  live  by  reason ; 

And  not  alone  for  gold ; 
When  man  to  man  united, 
And  every  wrong  thing  righted, 
The  whole  world  shall  be  lighted, 

As  was  Eden  of  old. 

I  live  to  hold  communion 

With  all   that  is   divine; 
To  feel  there  is  a  union 

'Twixt  Nature's  heart  and  mine. 
To  profit  by  affliction, 
Reap  truth  from  fields  of  fiction, 
Grow  wiser  from  conviction, 

And  fulfill  each  grand  design. 

I  live  for  those  who  love  me, 

For  those  who  know  me  true; 
For  the  heaven  that  smiles  above  me, 

And  awaits  my  spirit,  too; 
For  the  wrong  that  needs  resistance, 
For  the  cause  that  lacks  assistance, 
For  the  future  in  the  distance, 
And  the  good  that  I  can  do. 


THE   JUDGMENT    MORNING 

1. 
I  dreamed  that  the  great  Judgment  Morning 

Had  dawned  and  the  trumpet  had  blown ; 
I  dreamed  that  the  nations  had  gathered 

To  judgment  before  the  white  throne. 
From  the  throne  came  a  bright  shining  angel 

And  stood  on  the  land  and  the  sea, 
And  said,  with  his  hand  raised  to  heaven, 

That  time  was  no  longer  to  be. 

REFRAIN. 
And  oh,  what  a  weeping  and  wailing 

When  the  lost  ones  were  told  of  their  fate; 
They  cried  for  the  rocks  and  the  mountains, 

They  prayed  but  their  pray'rs  were  too  late. 

2. 
The  rich  man  was  there,  but  his  money 

Had  melted  and  vanished  away, 
A  pauper  he  stood  in  the  judgment, 

His  debts  were  too  heavy  to  pay. 
The  great  man  was  there,  but  his  greatness 

When  death  came  was  left  far  behind, 
The  angel  that  opened  the  records, 

Not  a  trance  of  his  greatness  could  find. — Ref. 

3. 
The  Widow  was  there  and  the  orphans, 

God  heard  and  remembered  their  cries; 
No  sorrow  in  heaven  forever, 
God  wiped  all  the  tears  from  their  eyes. 
The  gambler  was  there  and  the  drunkard, 

And  the  man  who  had  sold  them  the  drink, 
With  the  people  who  gave  him  the  license 

Together  in  hell  they  did  sink. — Ref. 

4. 
The  moral  man  came  to  the  judgment, 

But  his  self-righteous  rags  would  not  do; 
The  men  who  had  crucified  Jesus, 

Had  passed  off  as  moral  men,  too. 
The  souls  that  had  put  off  salvation — 

"Not  tonight;  I'll  get  saved  by  and  by; 
No  time  now  to  think  of  religion!" 

At  last  they  had  found  time  to  die. — Ref. 

—Selected. 


